UC-NRI 


I 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

IN  MEMORY  OF 

Dikran  K.  Dabagh 


g 


HISTORY  AND 

MANUFACTURE  OF 

FLOOR  COVERINGS 


COPYRIGHT,  1899,  BY 

REVIEW    PUBLISHING   CO., 

NEW  YORK. 


PUBLISHERS  OF  THE 

CARPET  TRADE  REVIEW.  UPHOLSTERY  TRADE  REVIEW. 

FURNITURE  TRADE  REVIEW. 

ESTABLISHED  1870. 


HE  CARPET  AND  UPHOLSTERY  TRADE 
REVIEW  is  the  oldest,  most  important 
and  influential  publication  devoted  to 
the  carpet,  upholstery  and  kindred 
trades.  It  is  published  semi-monthly,  these  fort- 
nightly editions  furnishing  the  readers  with  the 
latest  trade  news,  general  reviews  of  the  markets 
and  all  other  information  requisite  for  a  clear  un- 
derstanding of  the  trade  situation  and  outlook. 

A  prominent  feature  of  THE  REVIEW  is  the  large 
amount  of  high  class,  continuous  advertising  pa- 
tronage accorded  to  it,  a  fact  which  speaks  vol- 
umes for  the  profitable  results  secured  by  its  ad- 
vertisers. 

Its  large  circulation  has  been  attained  by  many 
years  of  conservative,  reliable  management,  and  to 
the  manufacturer  and  dealer  alike  its  semi-monthly 
visits  are  as  welcome  as  they  are  essential. 


PRBFACE. 


HE  PURPOSE  of  this  book  is  to  present  concisely, 
yet  comprehensively,  such  information  regard- 
ing the  history  and  technique  of  the  trade  in 
floor  coverings  as  is  desirable  and  necessary  for 
those  who  are  engaged  in  the  making  or  selling  of  these 
goods.  The  necessity  for  this  handbook  must  be  obvious, 
for  there  is  no  similar  work  in  existence.  Articles  relating 
to  various  branches  of  the  industry  have  appeared  occa- 
sionally in  THE  REVIEW,  but  this  work  is  the  first  in  which 
the  subject  is  handled  in  a  systematic  and  fairly  compre- 
hensive manner,  the  compiler's  idea  being  to  give  the  more 
salient  facts,  avoiding  as  far  as  possible  purely  technical 
terms  or  unessential  details. 

To  those  who  know  little  or  nothing  of  the  technique  of 
the  trade  the  illustrated  explanation  of  the  principle  of  the 
loom,  on  pages  89  and  90,  and  following  this  the  Carpet 
Cyclopedia,  will  perhaps  be  especially  useful,  presenting  as 
they  do  the  general  theory  of  weaving  and  brief  definitions 
of  the  technical  terms  most  used  in  the  art,  so  far  as  it  relates 
to  floor  covering  manufacture. 


195 


CONTENTS. 
(For  index  see  page  95.) 

PAGE 

Carpeting  in  Antiquity 3 

Carpet  Making  in  Great  Britain 9 

The  Carpet  Industry  in  the  United  States 15 

Oriental   Rugs   and   Carpets 25 

Savonnerie  and  Aubusson   Carpets 41 

Hand-made  and  Chenille  Axminsters 45 

Body  Brussels  and  Wiltons 49 

Tapestry  Brussels  and  Velvets 53 

Printed   Tapestry    Carpets 59 

Moquettes  and  Machine-made  Axminsters 63 

Smyrna  Rugs  and  Carpets , 65 

Ingrain,  Venetian  and  Wool  Dutch  Carpets 69 

Straw  Matting 71 

Cocoa  Matting 75 

Floor  Oil  Cloth 79 

Linoleum 83 

Animal  Skin  Rugs  and  Mats 87 

Principle  of  the  Loom 89 

Carpet  Cyclopedia 91 

Index  95 


FLOOR     COVERINGS  ; 

THEIR 

HISTORY  AND  MANUFACTURE. 


CHAPTER     I. 
CARPETING  IN  ANTIQUITY. 

N  the  most  ancient  times  known  in  his- 
tory, when  the  arts  highest  in 
favor  among  the  inhabitants  of 
this  globe,  our  amiable  ances- 
tors, were  those  which  helped 
men  of  one  tribe  to  murder  or 
rob  members  of  another,  but 
little  thought  was  bestowed 
upon  the  matter  of  floor  cov- 
erings. In  the  earliest  huts, 
caves  or  tents  the  only  attempt 

toward  a  carpeting  consisted  in  strewing  leaves  of 
trees  or  grass,  &c.,  over  the  ground.  The  next  advance 
beyond  such  primitive  expedients  was  in  the  use  of  animal 
skins.  Later,  with  the  progress  of  civilization  and  the 
growth  of  wealth  and  luxury,  came  floorings  of  variously 
colored  wood,  marbles  and  encaustic  tiles.  In  ancient 
Greece  and  Rome  mosaics  of  marble  and  artificial  stone 
were  used  in  the  temples  and  in  the  houses  of  the  rich. 


4  FLOOR  COVERINGS. 

Textile  carpets  were  first  made  in  Asia ,  and  were  in  use 
there  at  a  time  when  Europe  was  inhabited  only  by  sav- 
ages. The  ancient  Egyptians  made  carpets  of  wool,  and  the 
woolen  carpets  of  Babylon  were  well  known  at  Rome  dur- 
ing the  second  century. 

The  Oriental  looms  of  antiquity  were  in  all  essential  re- 
spects the  same  as  those  tipon  which  rugs  and  carpets  are 
now  woven  in  all  the  countries  of  the  Orient,  where  carpet 
weaving  is  still  done  by  hand  labor,  and,  as  is  well  known 
in  the  trade,  the  best  product  of  these  early  looms  has 
never  been  equaled  by  modern  goods — so  far  as  durability 
and  beauty  are  concerned. 

Carpets  were  introduced  into  Spain  at  the  time  of  the 
Moorish  conquest  of  that  country,  and  the  Crusaders 
brought  some  Turkish  carpets  with  them  when  they  re- 
turned from  the  Holy  Land.  Italy  received  most  of  these 
goods,  and  they  were  dealt  in  by  the  enterprising  Italian 
merchants  long  before  they  became  known  in  many  other 
parts  of  Europe. 

Mosaic  floor  coverings  were  introduced  into  Britain  by 
the  Romans.  Planks  of  oak  and  deal  came  into  use  in 
Europe  during  the  Middle  Ages,  and  parquetry,  com- 
posed of  squares  and  lozenges  of  wood,  found  some  favor 
among  the  wealthier  classes.  In  the  British  Isles  the 
earthen  floors,  seen  even  in  the  best  houses  of  those  times, 
were  covered  with  rushes,  hay  or  leaves.  The  weaving  of 
these  rushes  to  form  a  matting  was  a  natural  advance 
suggested  perhaps  by  importations  of  Chinese  and  Indian 
matting.  The  weaving  of  straw  matting  was  an  art  com- 
mon in  China  thousands  of  years  ago. 

Long  before  textile  carpets  were  known  in  Europe  the 
noble  ladies  of  England,  Flanders  and  other  European 
countries  were  accustomed  to  spend  much  of  their  time  in 


HISTORY  AND   MANUFACTURE.  5 

the  making  of  tapestry  or  needle-work  hangings  for 
walls,  and  occasionally  these  fabrics  were  employed  also 
as  carpets.  In  the  fourteenth  century  this  work,  until 
then  a  feminine  accomplishment,  was  taken  up  as  a  trade. 
A  factory  was  established  for  this  purpose  at  Arras,  in 
Flanders,  and  the  manufacture  soon  spread  to  France  and 
other  parts  of  Europe.  The  materials  employed  in  these 
goods  were  woolen  yarns  and  threads  of  silk,  silver  and 
gold.  In  1607  Henry  IV.  of  France  established  a  fac- 
tory at  the  Louvre  for  the  making  of  wall  hangings  and 
carpets.  The  carpeting  made  was  called  Turkey  stitch 
(point  de  Turquii).  In  1627  the  carpet  factory  known  as 
the  Savonnerie  was  established  in  a  building  at  Chaillot 
which  had  previously  been  used  as  a  soap  factory. 

In  an  ancient  romance  there  is  reference  to  carpets  which 
were  made  at  Limoges,  France,  in  the  twelfth  century, 
and  a  hundred  years  later  the  making  of  carpets  was  the 
daily  work  of  the  monks  in  the  convent  of  Lilbe,  West- 
phalia, but  these  goods  were  embroidered,  not  woven. 
The  mediaeval  church  in  Europe  employed  Oriental  carpets 
and  rugs  before  altars,  in  the  choirs  of  cathedrals  and  at 
the  feet  of  images.  Carpets  mounted  on  poles  were  carried 
in  religious  processions  as  canopies  over  the  Host  or  great 
dignitaries  of  the  church.  The  troubadours  and  jugglers 
gave  their  performances  on  carpets.  Ladies  ornamented 
their  presence  chambers  with  carpets  and  used  them  as 
hangings  for  private  oratories.  They  were  laid  before 
thrones  and  at  state  banquets.  In  the  pictures  of  the  old 
Dutch  school  the  table  covers  were  frequently  Oriental 
carpets,  and  they  were  largely  used  in  this  way  in  the 
Netherlands  and  other  European  countries.  In  the  second 
edition  of  Bailey's  Dictionarium  Britannicum,  published  in 
1736,  a  carpet  is  defined  as  a  table  cover,  while  in  the 


6  FLOOR  COVERINGS. 

twenty-first  edition,  published  in  1766,  it  is  described  as  a 
covering  for  a  table,  passageway  or  floor. 

In  the  goods  made  at  the  Louvre  and  the  Savonnerie  in 
the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  weavers  used 
a  combination  of  the  loom  and  a  shuttle  needle,  in  which 
the  latter  formed  the  pattern,  the  general  effect  being 
similar  to  needlework.  In  1664  Colbert,  minister  of  Louis 
XIV. ,  established  a  carpet  factory  at  Beauvais.  The  car- 
pet workshops  of  the  Louvre  and  the  Savonnerie  were  re- 
organized by  Louis  XIV.,  and  some  of  the  most  famous 
painters  of  his  time  were  engaged  to  supply  designs  for 
the  weavers.  A  few  of  the  carpets  of  this  period  still  sur- 
vive. Their  ornamentation  consists  of  large  scrolls  of 
acanthus  leaf,  combined  with  flowers  and  moldings  en- 
circling groundwork  of  various  colors  or  medallions  repre- 
senting figures  in  cameos  or  landscapes.  The  Gobelins 
Museum  has  a  carpet  of  the  time  of  Louis  XII.  It  bears  on 
its  face  a  representation  of  that  king,  his  queen,  Anne  of 
Austria,  and  their  two  children. 

A  large  proportion  of  the  workmen  employed  in  the 
French  factories  were  of  Flemish  birth  or  descent,  and 
Protestants;  while  among  the  French  themselves,  under 
the  protection  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  the  number  of 
Protestants  had  greatly  increased,  especially  in  the 
class  of  skilled  artisans.  The  revocation  of  the  edict 
in  1685  resulted  in  the  flight  of  many  thousands  of  these 
workmen  from  France  to  countries  where  they  were  not 
liable  to  persecution  on  account  of  their  religious  faith. 
Flanders,  Holland  and  England  received  many  of  these 
fugitives. 

Flanders  was  the  first  country  in  Europe  to  engage  in 
the  weaving  of  carpeting  on  looms  of  a  distinctly  European 
pattern,  as  compared  with  the  primitive  apparatus  used  by 


HISTORY  AND  MANUFACTURE.  7 

the  Oriental  weavers.  Brussels  carpeting  was  a  promi- 
nent product  of  Flemish  looms,  as  was  also  a  kind  of 
velvet  pile  carpets,  also  woven  entirely,  the  pattern  being 
brought  out  by  the  shortening  of  the  weft  threads  and  the 
interlacing  of  the  warp  quite  across  the  web. 


CHAPTER     IL 
CARPET  MAKING  IN  GREAT  BRITAIN. 

js  early  as  the  reign  of  Edward  III.  a 
number  of  Flemish  weavers  settled  at 
Bristol,  England,  and  began  the  manu- 
facture of  a  floor  covering  which  became 
known  as  Bristol  carpet.  It  was  similar 
to  the  Scotch  or  Kidderminster  carpeting 
of  a  slightly  later  date. 

In  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to 
manufacture  carpets  was  made  by  William  Sheldon,  and 
under  James  I.,  who  took  much  interest  in  the  enter- 
prise, a  factory  was  established  at  Mortlake,  in  Surrey, 
for  the  manufacture  of  carpeting  and  tapestry;  but  the 
amount  of  goods  produced  was  small,  and  the  English 
carpet  industry  did  not  become  of  any  material  impor- 
tance until  1685,  when  the  French  and  Flemish  weavers 
were  forced  to  flee  from  France  into  England  by  the 
intolerant  and  short-sighted  policy  of  Louis  XIV. 

Before  1745  most  English  carpets  were  a  mere  interlacing 
of  warp  and  weft  of  different  colors,  and  dornix,  a  sort  of 
linsey-woolsey  cloth.  In  1735  the  manufacture  of  Kidder- 
minster carpeting  had  become  a  notable  industry  in  the  town 
of  that  name.  In  1745  a  carpet  factory  was  established  at 
AVilton,  England,  under  the  patronage  of  the  Earl  of 
Pembroke,  who  while  traveling  in  France  had  noted  the 
superiority  of  the  French  in  this  industry,  and  determined 
to  introduce  their  methods  into  his  own  country.  He 
accordingly  imported  a  number  of  French  weavers,  and 


10  FLOOR    COVERINGS. 

secured  a  patent  giving  him  the  exclusive  privilege  of 
manufacturing  these  French  carpets  in  England.  They 
were  made  in  one  piece,  either  square  or  oblong,  and  had 
a  cut  pile  like  the  Oriental  goods.  Four  years  later  some 
Kidderminster  manufacturers  began  to  make  carpets  like 
these  goods,  then  known  as  Wiltons.  The  patent  granted 
for  the  Wilton  goods,  among  other  particulars,  specified  that 
the  fabric  was  made  with  "bobbin  and  anchor,"  but  the 
Kidderminster  manufacturers  erected  looms  on  essentially 
the  same  principles,  the  only  difference  being  the  use  of 
"bobbin  and  ball,"  instead  of  "bobbin  and  anchor." 

Besides  the  carpet  factory  at  Wilton,  the  Earl  of  Pem- 
broke established  also  works  for  the  manufacture  of  mar- 
ble cloth,  which  was  a  kind  of  floor  cloth. 

In  1750  a  Capuchin  friar  began  the  manufacture  of 
Savonnerie  carpets  at  Fulham,  England.  The  enterprise 
was  unsuccessful,  but  at  London  in  the  same  year  two 
workmen  who  had  been  employed  in  the  Savonnerie  fac- 
tory opened  a  workshop  with  the  assistance  of  a  Mr. 
Moore.  A  disagreement  between  the  three  men  resulted 
in  the  starting  of  another  shop  by  the  two  Frenchmen  in 
partnership  with  one  Parisot,  and  under  the  patronage  of 
the  Duke  of  Cumberland.  Moore's  factory  continued  in 
operation,  and  in  1757  he  obtained  a  premium  from  the 
Society  of  Arts  for  the  production  of  the  best  imitation 
of  a  Turkey  carpet. 

The  manufacture  of  what  is  known  as  Brussels  carpets 
probably  originated  in  Flanders.  The  city  of  Brussels 
was  noted  for  the  product  of  these  goods,  and  gave  its 
name  to  them ;  but  they  were  also  made  at  several  other 
places  in  Flanders.  Their  manufacture  was  introduced 
into  England  by  John  Broom,  a  Kidderminster  weaver, 
who  went  to  Brussels  and  afteward  to  Tournai  to  study 


HISTORY    AND    MANUFACTURE.  11 

the  method  of  weaving  the  goods.  At  Tournai,  Broom 
found  a  man  who  understood  the  making  of  the  Brussels 
loom,  and  the  two  men  embarked  together  for  England, 
where  in  1749  they  built  and  set  in  operation  the  first 
Brussels  loom  known  in  that  country.  Broom  and  his 
assistant  were  anxious  to  keep  to  themselves  the  secret  of 
the  Flemish  loom,  and  no  other  man  was  allowed  to  enter 
their  workshop ;  but  they  ran  the  loom  by  night  as  well  as 
by  day,  and  finally  a  weaver  in  the  employ  of  another 
Kidderminster  carpet  maker  discovered  the  principle  of 
the  machine  by  climbing  a  ladder  night  after  night  and 
watching  the  two  weavers  while  they  thought  they  were 
unobserved.  In  a  short  time  Kidderminster  had  a  num- 
ber of  Brussels  looms  in  operation,  and  the  town  eventu- 
ally became  the  chief  seat  of  this  particular  branch  of  the 
carpet  industry. 

In  the  year  1831  an  invention  of  the  highest  importance 
to  the  carpet  trade  was  accomplished  by  Richard  Whytock, 
of  Edinburgh,  Scotland.  Mr  Whytock  was  the  head  of 
the  firm  of  Richard  Whytock  &  Co. ,  manufacturers,  job- 
bers and  retail  dealers  in  carpeting,  at  Edinburgh.  His 
experience  as  a  retail  dealer  as  well  as  a  manufacturer  had 
convinced  him  that  a  carpet  differing  from  Ingrain,  but 
cheaper  than  Brussels,  would  be  in  demand  among  that 
large  portion  of  the  public  which  could  not  afford  the  pur- 
chase of  Brussels.  Pondering  upon  this  idea  it  occurred 
to  him  that  a  one-frame  Brussels  would  be  just  the  fabric 
desired,  because  it  would  save  all  the  usual  waste  of  valu- 
able material  in  the  weaving  of  Brussels,  a  loss  entailed 
by  the  fact  that  in  such  weaving  the  greater  part  of  the 
worsted  went  to  the  back  of  the  fabric  where  it  was  prac- 
tically useless.  With  this  idea  in  view  he  began  in  1830  his 
experiments  in  the  making  of  the  new  fabric.  In  his  em- 


12 


FLOOR    COVERINGS. 


ploy  at  that  time  was  William  Sloane,  who  afterward  came 
to  New  York  and  founded  here  the  great  carpet  business 
now  conducted  under  the  style  of  W.  &  J.  Sloane.  Mr. 
Sloane  procured  for  Mr.  Whytock  at  Kilmarnock  the 
first  jars  of  coloring  matter  used  in  the  dyeing  of  the 


RICHARD     WHYTOCK. 

yarn.  Being  now  convinced  that  the  idea  was  prac- 
ticable Mr.  Whytock  began  to  print  a  warp  for  weaving. 
As  no  patent  had  then  been  secured  by  him  he  desired  to 
keep  the  invention  private,  and  the  first  loom  for  the  weav- 
ing of  the  fabric  now  known  as  Tapestry  or  Tapestry  Brus- 
sels was  set  up  in  a  stable  loft  in  the  rear  of  Whytock  &  Co.  's 


HISTORY   AND    MANUFACTURE.  13 

warehouse.  The  first  entire  piece  of  Velvet  carpet  made 
was  woven  on  this  loom  by  William  Sloane  in  the  year  1831. 

Soon  afterward  Mr.  Whytock  obtained  a  patent  for  his 
invention,  and  an  arrangement  for  the  manufacture  of  the 
goods  was  made  with  the  firm  of  Pardoe,  Hooman  & 
Co.,  of  Kidderminster,  England,  who  were  then  the 
largest  manufacturers  of  Brussels  carpeting  in  England. 
They  intended  to  manufacture  the  new  fabric  on  an  ex- 
tensive scale,  and  believed  that  they  could  improve  Mr. 
Whytock's  method  of  printing  the  yarn,  but  after  experi- 
menting for  a  considerable  time  and  incurring  heavy 
expenses  in  consequence,  they  found  the  result  unsatis- 
factory and  finally  abandoned  the  scheme  in  disgust.  One 
or  two  other  manufacturers  attempted  to  make  the  goods, 
but  were  also  unsuccessful. 

Although  somewhat  discouraged  by  these  failures,  Mr. 
Whytock  kept  a  few  looms  running  to  supply  the  retail 
trade  of  his  own  firm,  and  the  goods  gradually  gained  a 
small  degree  of  favor  with  the  public,  but  it  was  not  until 
they  were  introduced  into  the  United  States,  in  1843,  that 
the  demand  for  them  assumed  large  proportions.  Soon 
afterward  the  English  carpet  manufacturing  firm  of  John 
Crossley  &  Sons  became  the  owners  of  the  patent,  and  by 
making  important  improvements  in  the  styles  of  designs 
and  colorings  and  the  quality  of  the  fabric  speedily  secured 
for  it  a  wide  popularity,  especially  in  the  United  States. 

Mention  has  been  made  of  the  manufacture  of  imitation 
Turkey  carpets  in  England  at  Moore's  factory.  About 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  similar  goods  were 
produced  by  several  English  manufacturers,  and  especially 
at  Axminster.  The  fabric  soon  became  known  as  Ax- 
minster,  but  the  demand  for  it  has  always  been  limited  on 
account  of  its  expensive  character.  It  is  made  almost 


14  FLOOR    COVERINGS. 

entirely  of  fine  wool  for  both  front  and  back,  the  wool 
being  knotted  in  tufts  upon  the  warp  threads  by  the  hand 
of  the  workman,  and  held  together  by  an  invisible  ground- 
work of  linen  thread, 

A  desire  to  produce  a  fabric  which,  although  less  ex- 
pensive, would  preserve  in  fair  measure  the  rich  effect  of 
a  genuine  Axminster  prompted  experiments  by  James 
Templeton,  of  Glasgow,  and  William  Quigley,  of  Paisley, 
Scotland,  which  resulted  in  1839  in  the  invention  of  the 
carpeting  called  patent  Axminster,  Mr.  Templeton  was 
a  member  of  the  carpet  manufacturing  firm  of  James 
Templeton  &  Co.,  Glasgow,  and  John  Templeton,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  firm,  devised  several  improvements  in  the  fab- 
ric, with  which  this  house  has  ever  since  been  most  promi- 
nently identified.  The  salient  feature  of  patent  Axminster 
manufacture  is  a  species  of  double  weaving,  by  which 
strips  of  chenille  employed  as  woof  are  arranged  in  accu- 
rately defined  patterns,  and  a  heavy  velvet  piled  carpeting 
is  produced  with  a  hard  linen  back  instead  of  the  soft 
woolen  back  of  the  original  Axminsters.  The  patented 
goods  are  cheaper,  partly  on  account  of  the  use  of  steam 
power,  but  mainly  because  they  require  only  about  half 
the  wool  used  in  the  real  Axminster. 


CHAPTER    III. 
THE  CARPET  INDUSTRY  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

|N  this  country  100  years  ago  the  only  woven 
covering  for  floors  in  use  to  any  material 
extent  was  the  domestic  rag  carpet.  All 
other  textile  floor  coverings  were  im- 
ported, for  it  was  the  policy  of  the  British 
Government  at  that  time  to  discourage 
and,  in  fact,  repress  every  colonial  industry  which  seemed 
to  threaten  competition  with  the  British  manufacturers  at 
home.  The  carpeting  imported  consisted  mainly  of  Scots 
or  Kidderminster  Ingrains.  In  1760  J.  Alexander  &  Co., 
whose  store  was  on  Smith  street,  New  York  city,  advertised 
in  the  New  York  Gazette  that  they  had  some  Scots  carpets 
for  sale,  and  in  the  following  year  they  announced  through 
the  same  newspaper  that  they  had  added  Turkey  carpets 
to  their  stock. 

All  imported  carpeting  was  expensive  in  those  days, 
and  the  Turkey  hand-made  goods  were  especially  dear. 
Such  floor  coverings  were  regarded  as  luxuries  to  be  in- 
dulged in  only  by  wealthy  people,  and  the  rich  were  then 
exceedingly  small  in  number.  Even  such  modest  floor 
coverings  as  rag  carpets  were  used  only  in  the  best  room 
of  the  average  house.  For  the  bed  chamber  the  bare 
floor  or  perhaps  a  bedside  strip  of  rag  carpet  was  thought 
good  enough,  and  in  houses  where  the  kitchen  was  used 
also  as  a  sitting  room  some  thrifty  housewives  used  no 
other  floor  covering  than  sand,  which  was  strewn  around, 
as  is  still  the  custom  in  some  barrooms  and  country 


16  FLOOR    COVERINGS. 

hotels.  It  was  not  uncommon  for  the  Dutch  housewife  of 
New  York  or  New  Jersey  to  use  sand  even  in  the  best 
room,  and  if  of  an  aesthetic  turn  of  mind  she  might  gratify 
her  decorative  instincts  by  arranging  the  sand  in  designs 
simple  or  intricate.  These  home-made  patterns  had  the 
great  advantage  of  being  open  to  change  as  often  as  might 
be  desired. 

The  first  carpet  factory  operated  in  the  United  States 
was  established  at  Philadelphia  in  1791  by  William  Peter 
Sprague.  Among  Mr.  Sprague's  earliest  products  was  an 
Axminster  carpet  in  which  the  pattern  represented  the 
arms  and  achievements  of  the  United  States.  This  factory 
attracted  the  attention  of  Alexander  Hamilton  and  induced 
him  to  recommend  the  imposition  of  a  small  duty  on 
foreign  carpeting  as  an  encouragement  for  domestic  manu- 
facturers. 

Soon  after  Mr.  Sprague  established  his  factory,  several 
others  were  started  on  a  small  scale  at  Philadelphia  and 
elsewhere  for  the  manufacture  of  Ingrains  and  Venetians. 
In  1804  Peter  and  Ebenezer  Stowell  opened  a  factory 
at  Worcester,  Mass.,  where  they  had  in  operation  six 
looms  of  their  own  invention  and  construction.  In  1810 
George  W.  Conradt,  who  came  from  Wurtemberg,  Ger- 
many, entered  into  the  manufacture  of  Ingrains  at 
Frederick  City,  Md.  Mr.  Conradt' s  carpeting  was  made 
on  the  old  barrel  loom,  which  required  a  separate  barrel 
for  each  pattern.  The  barrel  was  studded  with  pins  some- 
what like  the  cylinder  of  a  music  box,  and  in  rotating  the 
pins  acted  on  the  warp  threads.  The  application  of  the 
barrel  machine  to  carpet  weaving  was  first  effected  by 
Thomas  Morton,  a  Scotch  weaver,  who  afterward  came  to 
the  United  States  and  plied  his  trade  in  Connecticut.  In 
1801  Jacquard  invented  the  famous  device  which  was  des- 


HISTORY   AND    MANUFACTURE.  17 

tined  to  supersede  the  barrel  machine  and  all  other  methods 
of  figure  weaving,  but  the  Jacquard  attachment  was  not 
adapted  for  use  on  carpet  looms  until  several  years  later. 
According  to  the  census  of  1810  only  9,984  yards  of  car- 
pet and  coverlid  were  made  in  this  country  in  that  year. 

In  1821  John  and  Nicholas  Haight  started  a  factory  in 
New  York  city.  Their  mill  superintendent  was  James  W. 
Mitchell,  a  Scotchman  from  Kilmarnock,  which  was  then 
the  principal  seat  of  Ingrain  manufacture  in  Scotland.  In 
1825  Alexander  Wright  started  a  small  carpet  factory  at 
Medway,  Mass.,  but  it  was  not  successful,  and  in  1828  the 
plant  was  bought  by  the  Lowell  Manufacturing  Company, 
which  had  been  organized  in  that  year  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  cotton  goods  and  carpeting  at  Lowell,  Mass.  This 
was  the  beginning  of  the  great  carpet  manufacturing 
business  of  the  Lowell  Company. 

The  first  adaptation  of  the  Jacquard  machine  to  carpet 
weaving  in  this  country  was  made  in  the  Lowell  mill  soon 
afterward  by  Claude  Wilson,  one  of  its  employees.  To 
accomplish  this  purpose  it  was  necessary  to  make  several 
changes  in  Jacquard's  device,  and  since  then  some  other 
and  important  modifications  of  it  have  been  made  to  ren- 
der it  more  effective  in  the  weaving  of  carpets. 

But  the  Lowell  mill  was  destined  to  become  the  scene  of 
a  far  more  important  event,  one  which  marked  a  new 
epoch  in  the  history  of  carpet  manufacture,  for  it  was  in 
this  mill  that  the  great  inventor,  Erastus  B.  Bigelow,  per- 
fected the  first  loom  ever  made  for  weaving  carpets  by 
power  not  depending  on  human  muscles. 

Bigelow  began  experimental  work  on  his  power  Ingrain 
loom  in  1839,  but  the  invention  was  not  perfected  until 
about  two  years  later.  The  experiments  essential  were 
costly  and  the  inventor  was  a  poor  man,  but  he  was  for- 


18 


FLOOR    COVERINGS. 


tunate  in  enlisting  the  interest  of  George  W.  Lyman, 
then  treasurer  of  the  Lowell  Company,  and  father  of 
Arthur  T.  Lyman,  who  is  its  present  treasurer.  George 
Lyman,  a  sagacious,  far-sighted  business  man,  quickly 
recognized  the  importance  of  the  invention,  and,  having 


ERASTUS  B.   BIGELOW. 


the  courage  of  his  convictions,  he  influenced  the  company 
to  advance  money  for  the  making  of  the  new  looms,  and 
also  for  the  building  of  a  large  mill  for  them,  several  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars  being  thus  invested. 

The  chief  difficulty  in  the  weaving  of  Ingrains  on  the 
power  loom  was  in  the  matching  of  the  figures.  The 
hand-loom  weaver  accomplished  this  by  a  careful  regula- 


HISTORY  AND    MANUFACTURE.  19 

tion  of  the  tension  of  the  warps  and  beat  of  the  lay,  but 
to  make  automatic  machinery  perform  the  work  as  well 
seemed  impossible  until  Bigelow's  inventive  genius  was 
directed  to  the  task.  His  first  loom  turned  out  carpeting  in 
every  way  superior  to  the  fabric  made  by  hand  looms,  but 
the  product  per  day,  was  not  much  greater,  the  hand  loom 
making  8  yards  a  day,  while  the  automatic  machine  pro- 
duced only  4  more  yards  in  the  same  time.  Not  being 
satisfied  with  this  result,  Mr.  Bigelow  continued  his  ex- 
periments, and  in  1841  succeeded  in  increasing  the  product 
to  from  25  to  27  yards  a  day. 

At  this  time  carpet  manufacture  in  the  United  States 
was  an  infant  industry  in  every  sense  of  that  term.  The 
factories  then  in  operation  in  Massachusetts  were  seven  in 
number.  In  Connecticut  four  were  running ;  New  York 
had  eight;  four  were  situated  in  New  Jersey.  In  Penn- 
sylvania there  were  five,  all  of  which  were  in  or  near 
Philadelphia,  and  Maryland  had  one.  The  principal  mills 
were:  The  Lowell  Company's  150  looms;  William  H. 
McKnight's,  Saxonville,  Mass.,  150  looms;  Orrin  Thomp- 
son's, at  Thompsonville  and  Tariffville,  Conn.,  250  looms, 
and  W.  H.  Chatham's,  Philadelphia,  160  looms.  Among 
the  mills  in  operation  were  the  first  plants  of  several  of 
the  largest  concerns  now  in  the  trade,  including,  besides 
the  Lowell  Company,  those  now  known  as  the  Hartford 
Carpet  Company,  Robert  Beattie&  Sons,  the  E.  S.  Higgins 
Carpet  Company  and  McCallum  &  McCallum.  The  total 
number  of  looms  in  operation  in  1841  did  not  much  ex- 
ceed 1,500,  and  about  1,250  of  them  were  used  for  In- 
grains, the  others  being  devoted  to  Brussels,  Damasks, 
Venetians  or  rugs. 

But  the  industry  was  soon  to  receive  new  and  great 
impetus.  In  1848  Mr.  Bigelow  turned  his  attention  to  the 


20  FLOOR    COVERINGS. 

construction  of  a  power  loom  for  Brussels  carpeting,  and 
the  invention  was  soon  perfected,  its  salient  features  being 
adapted  from  a  loom  invented  by  Mr.  Bigelow  several 
years  previous  for  the  weaving  of  coach  lace.  But  al- 
though the  new  Brussels  loom  was  a  success  in  operation, 
the  inventor  was  unable  to  make  satisfactory  arrange- 
ments with  any  carpet  manufacturer  for  its  utilization, 
and  he  was  finally  obliged  to  invest  some  of  his  own 
money  in  the  establishment  of  a  Brussels  mill  at  Clinton, 
Mass. ,  which  was  the  nucleus  of  the  present  •  great  plant 
of  the  Bigelow  Carpet  Company. 

The  manufacture  of  Tapestry  Brussels  and  Velvet 
carpeting  in  the  United  States  was  first  undertaken  in 
1846  by  John  Johnson,  who  came  to  this  country  from 
Halifax,  England,  where  he  had  been  in  the  employ  of  John 
Crossley  &  Sons.  Mr.  Johnson  opened  a  Tapestry  mill  at 
Newark,  N.  J.,  with  twenty-five  looms.  The  plant  was 
subsequently  removed  to  Troy,  N.  Y.,  and  in  1855  was 
purchased  by  a  company  headed  by  Michael  H.  Simpson 
and  removed  to  Roxbury,  Mass.  The  Roxbury  Carpet 
Company,  as  this  concern  was  called,  under  the  lead  of 
President  Simpson  soon  became  and  continues  to  be  one 
of  the  most  important  factors  in  the  Tapestry  and  Velvet 
trade  of  this  country. 

The  product  of  Johnson's  Tapestry  looms  was  about  5 
yards  a  day.  In  1856  the  product  of  each  loom  run  by  the 
Roxbury  Carpet  Company  was  16  yards  a  day,  and  at 
present  the  average  Tapestry  loom  turns  out  about  60 
yards  a  day,  and  a  product  of  65  yards  is  not  unusual. 
The  great  increase  in  production  was  effected  first  by  the 
application  of  Mr.  Bigelow's  invention  for  power  weav- 
ing to  the  Tapestry  loom,  and  later  by  various  improve- 
ments in  the  wire  motion  and  other  features  of  the  loom. 


HISTORY   AND    MANUFACTURE. 


21 


In  the  year  1876  another  invention  of  great  importance 
to  the  carpet  trade,  the  power  loom  for  making  Moquette 
carpeting,  was  effected  by  Halcyon  Skinner,  who  was  then 


HALCYON     SKINNER. 


in  the  employ  of  Alexander  Smith,  founder  of  the  great 
manufacturing  concern  now  known  as  the  Alexander 
Smith  &  Sons  Carpet  Company.  About  twenty  years 
previous  Mr.  Smith,'  who  was  then  making  carpeting  in  a 


22  FLOOR    COVERINGS. 

factory  at  West  Farms,  N.  Y.,  conceived  the  idea  of  weav- 
ing Axminster  or  tufted  carpets  on  a  power  loom.  Hav- 
ing recognized  in  Mr.  Skinner  a  mechanic  of  far  more  than 
ordinary  talent  and  originality,  Mr.  Smith  employed  him 
to  devise  the  loom,  and  about  a  year  later  one  was  con- 
structed and  patented.  It  proved  unsatisfactory,  but  in  1860 
another  was  built  and  this  was  found  to  answer  the  purpose 
perfectly.  But  soon  afterward  the  factory  at  West  Farms 
was  destroyed  by  fire,  and  although  the  new  loom  was 
saved  it  became  necessary  to  build  another  mill,  and  in 
the  meantime  Mr.  Smith's  attention  was  directed  to  other 
interests.  In  1864  he  closed  his  factory  at  West  Farms 
and  opened  one  at  Yonkers,  N.  Y.,  where  he  engaged  at 
first  in  Ingrain  manufacture  and  subsequently  in  the 
making  of  Tapestry  Brussels  on  an  extensive  scale.  Mr. 
Skinner  continued  in  the  employ  of  Mr.  Smith  as  a 
mechanical  expert,  and  during  this  time  he  invented  im- 
portant improvements  in  Ingrain  looms,  and  also  in  the 
machinery  for  Tapestry  Brussels  manufacture.  In  1876, 
at  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Smith,  he  began  work  on  a  power 
loom  intended  for  the  weaving  of  Moquette  carpeting,  and 
in  January;  1877,  the  first  or  ground  patent  for  the  loom 
was  granted.  Since  then  many  other  patents  have  been 
obtained  for  improvements  on  the  original  loom.  Some 
of  these  changes  were  made  by  Halcyon  Skinner,  and 
others  were  invented  by  his  sons,  Charles  and  A.  L.  Skin- 
ner. The  ground  patent  for  the  Moquette  loom  expired 
January  17,  1894.  Several  later  and  important  patents 
for  improvements  of  the  fabric  and  loom  still  survive,  and 
are  also  controlled  by  the  Alexander  Smith  &  Sons  Car- 
pet Company,  but  American  *  *  Axminsters, "  goods  made  on 
power  looms  and  very  closely  related  to  the  Moquette  weave, 
are  now  produced  by  several  other  manufacturing  concerns. 


HISTORY   AND    MANUFACTURE.  23 

Among  more  recent  improvements  in  carpet  manufac- 
ture perhaps  the  most  interesting  is  to  be  credited  to 
James  Dunlap,  of  Philadelphia,  whose  patented  method  of 
printing  Tapestry  carpeting  in  the  cloth  has  solved  a 
problem  which  many  manufacturers  had  struggled  with 
in  vain.  John  Bright,  the  English  statesman  and  carpet 
manufacturer,  was  one  of  those  who  attempted  the  solv- 
ing, and  failed  completely,  a  great  deal  of  money  being 
lost  in  experiments.  Thomas  Crossley  was  more  success- 
ful, for  his  Electrotype  carpeting,  as  it  was  called,  was  a 
marketable  fabric.  His  mechanical  ingenuity  enabled 
him  to  overcome  difficulties  which  had  baffled  previous 
efforts  in  the  same  field,  and  in  a  factory  established  at 
Ellington,  Conn.,  he  produced  for  a  year  or  two  1,000 
yards  daily,  all  of  which  found  a  ready  sale.  But 
neither  he  nor  his  brothers,  with  whom  he  was  associated, 
had  much  business  ability,  and  the  enterprise  eventually 
proved  disastrous  to  all  concerned  in  it. 

Mr.  Dunlap' s  invention  was  an  improvement  as  com- 
pared with  all  previous  ones  for  the  purpose,  in  the  fact 
that  the  coloring  in  the  fabric  extended  entirely  through 
it.  Former  devices  for  printing  the  cloth  had  failed  to 
saturate  the  pile  down  to  the  roots,  and  consequently  the 
color  was  rubbed  off  when  the  tips  of  the  pile  were  sub- 
jected to  ordinary  wear  and  tear.  Mr.  Dunlap  overcame 
this  defect  by  using  a  peculiar  roller,  which  not  only  gave 
a  superficial  color  but  also  held  the  dye  in  cells  or  depres- 
sions, so  that  when  the  roller  was  applied  to  the  carpeting 
under  great  pressure  the  coloring  matter  was  forced  down 
to  the  roots  of  the  pile  and  thoroughly  saturated  them. 

Besides  the  inventions  which  have  been  mentioned  many 
others  have  been  highly  important  factors  in  the  progress 
of  the  carpet  industry  in  this  country,  but  reference  to 


24  FLOOR    COVERINGS. 

them  is  postponed  for  the  present.  It  is  sufficient  now  to 
note  that  American  ingenuity,  enterprise  and  energy  have 
never  been  exhibited  more  prominently  and  successfully  in 
any  industries  than  in  the  manufacture  of  carpeting. 
From  the  small  beginning  of  hardly  a  hundred  years  ago 
the  industry  had  attained  in  1890  a  yearly  product  valued 
at  about  $50,000,000.  The  number  of  factories  was  173, 
representing  an  aggregate  capital  of  $38,208,842,  and  em- 
ploying 29,121  persons.  These  figures,  which  are  from 
the  census  of  1890,  do  not  include  854  factories  or  work- 
shops in  which  rag  carpeting  was  made,  the  yearly  prod- 
tict  of  this  fabric  being  valued  at  $1,714,480. 


CHAPTER    IV. 
ORIENTAL  RUGS  AND  CARPETS. 

HE  making  of  Oriental  rugs  is  a  simple  but 
slow  process,  and  although  it  seems 
easy,  it  is  so  only  to  Orientals  them- 
selves, with  fingers  trained  to  deft,  skill- 
ful manipulation  and  an  inherited  taste 
and  ability  for  such  work.  The  loom 
may  be  a  few  trunks  of  trees  and  poles  bound  together 
in  primitive  fashion.  It  is  never  more  than  a  simple 
vertical  frame,  carrying  on  its  upper  part  a  beam  con- 
taining the  warp,  which  is  kept  stretched  by  a  pole  or 
rod  passing  through  it.  It  is  usually  set  up  in  a  rough 
shed  adjoining  the  house  of  the  weaver,  though  sometimes 
in  the  open. 

The  weavers,  who  are  the  women  and  girls  of  the 
household,  sit  before  the  loom  and  taking  the  threads 
of  wool,  previously  prepared  and  sorted,  attach  them 
to  the  warp  by  a  running  knot.  They  then  insert 
the  weft  for  the  back,  press  the  knots  home  with 
a  wooden  comb,  and  level  the  pile  with  a  pair  of 
scissors. 

Generally  each  worker  has  a  special  piece  of  the  pattern 
assigned  to  her.  To  make  a  carpet  4^  yards  square  six 
women  are  usually  employed,  being  placed  at  a  distance 
of  27  inches  from  one  another.  On  an  average  each  woman 
weaves  daily  a  piece  8  to  10  inches  long  and  27  inches  wide. 
When  the  work  is  made  merely  an  avocation,  as  is  so 
commonly  the  case,  the  weaver  generally  knows  the  pat- 


Fig.  6.  Fig.  10.  Fig.  11 


Fig.  13. 


HISTORY   AND    MANUFACTURE.  27 

tern  by  memory  and  is  never  at  a  loss  for  the  right  shade. 
But  in  places  like  Oushak,  where  many  weavers  are  concen- 
trated and  have  made  the  work  a  vocation,  new  patterns 
are  sometimes  required,  and  then  an  especially  expert 
weaver  is  employed  in  making  a  pattern  carpet  from  a 
design,  and  from  this  the  women  work  as  usual,  copying 
the  design  from  the  back  of  the  pattern  carpet  by  count- 
ing the  knots. 

Great  care  is  taken  in  the  preparation  of  the  wool  and 
dyes  for  the  choice  grades  of  rugs.   Sheep  having  especially 


Fig.  18. 


good  wool  are  kept  housed,  and  often  have  linen  coverings 
sewn  upon  them  in  order  that  the  wool  may  remain  clean 
and  also  because  wool  treated  in  this  way  becomes  satu- 
rated with  animal  fat,  which  makes  it  soft  and  glossy. 
Goat's  hair  is  used  to  some  extent,  as  there  are  certain 
breeds  of  goats  that  have  supple,  glossy  hair.  Camel's 
hair  is  also  employed.  Silk  is  rarely  used,  and  scarcely 
ever  in  Western  Asia.  Most  of  the  silk  rugs  in  existence 
are  of  antique  manufacture.  But  in  the  finest  rugs  silk 
is  sometimes  used  even  in  the  warp  threads,  appearing 
at  the  end  to  form  the  fringe.  The  wool  used  is  always 
unbleached  and  the  fat  is  allowed  to  remain  in  it.  It  is 


28 


FLOOR    COVERINGS. 


difficult  to  dye  such  greasy  wool,  but  the  Orientals  do  not 
desire  sharp,  well  defined  colors.  It  is  indeed  the  custom 
to  leave  the  remains  of  dyes  in  the  vats  or  kettles,  as  this 
constant  blending  of  colors  gives  the  soft,  broken  tints 
which  are  characteristic  of  Oriental  rugs.  Another  point 


ORIENTAL  CARPET  LOOM. 


to  be  borne  in  mind  is  that  such  goods  are  always  dirty. 
A  thorough  cleansing  will  never  fail  to  make  the  colors 
brighter  and  clearer. 

The  colors  most  used  are  indigo,  porcelain  blue,  green, 
yellow,  orange,  crimson  and  rose  red.  The  best  wearing 
colors  are  the  blues,  reds  and  yellows,  because  they  im- 
prove with  age,  while  the  others  are  liable  to  deteriorate. 


HISTORY   AND    MANUFACTURE. 


29 


The  dyes  used  are  supposed  to  be  vegetable,  but  of  late 
years  aniline,  colors  have  been  used  largely  by  some  un- 
scrupulous weavers.  Aniline  colors  are  handsome  at  first, 
but  change  finally  into  an  ugly  gray. 

In  all  Oriental  designs  for  rugs  or  other  textile  fabrics 
certain  figures  are  especially  prominent,   either   in  their 


GHIORDES  RUG. 


ANTIQUE  MELES  RUG. 


simplest  forms  or  in  combination  with  others.  The  palm 
in  various  modifications  is  a  favorite  "motive."  Figures 
1,  2,  3,  4  and  5  in  the  cuts  shown  herewith,  are  all  based 
upon  the  palm.  Fig.  1,  which  is  the  most  elaborate,  is  found 
frequently  in  the  antique  Persian  rugs  and  carpets.  Fig.  2 
is  common  in  several  Oriental  makes.  Fig.  3  is  an  old  Per- 
sian motive.  Fig.  4  is  used  freely  in  the  modern  Ferahan 


30  FLOOR    COVERINGS. 

and  Kurdistan  carpets.  Fig.  5  shows  a  palm  and  geometri- 
cal figure  found  in  the  rugs  of  the  Caucasus.  Figs.  6  and  7 
are  blendings  of  palm  and  floral  motives  seen  in  many  Per- 
sian carpets.  Figs.  8  and  9,  the  rosette,  Fig.  10,  and  the 
pomegranate,  Fig.  11,  are  prominent  in  several  varieties 
of  Oriental  rugs.  The  lozenge,  Fig.  12,  is  the  charac- 


SUMAC    RUG. 

teristic  motive  in  the  rugs  made  by  the  nomads  of  Central 
Asia.  Fig.  13  is  Persian.  The  borders  shown  in  Figs. 
14,  15,  16,  17  and  18  are  well-known  Oriental  types,  but 
Fig.  18  is  usually  found  only  in  Herati  carpets  or  rugs. 

In  former  times  the  differences  between  the  rugs  of  the 
various  weaving  districts  of  the  Orient  were  clearly 
marked,  and  a  glance  at  the  material,  design  or  colorings 
of  a  rug  would  be  sufficient  to  show  at  once  the  country, 


HISTORY   AND    MANUFACTURE.  31 

and  in  most  instances  the  very  district  or  province,  from 
which  it  had  come. 

But  at  the  present  day  such  details  as  texture  or  pattern 
are  not  always  decisive  in  tracing  the  origin  of  a  rug  of 
modern  manufacture,  because  in  many  of  the  Oriental 
weaving  districts  the  goods  are  made  for  the  Western 
markets  under  the  order  and  often  under  the  supervision 


KIRMAN   CARPET. 

of  a  European  buyer,  who  allows  no  native  ideas  to  inter- 
fere with  his  own  conception  of  a  handsome  and  salable 
pattern.  But  it  should  also  be  said  that  such  goods  gen- 
erally possess  all  the  desirable  features  of  an  Oriental  make, 
without  the  defects  often  found  in  those  which  are  made 
by  native  weavers  to  suit  themselves. 

Of  course  these  remarks  do  not  apply  to  rugs  which  are 
really  antique,  or  to  modern  goods  manufactured  in  dis- 
tricts in  which  the  weavers  are  still  exempt  from  the  in- 


32 


FLOOR    COVERINGS. 


fluence  of  Western  ideas,  as  in  the  Caucasus  or  among  the 
nomad  tribes. 

But  while  it  is  not  always  safe  to  be  positive  as  to  the 
exact  birthplace  of  an  Oriental  rug,  it  is  still  true  that 
each  rug  making  country  in  the  Orient  has  its  particular 
kind  of  rug,  the  typical  Turkish  product,  for  example, 


SUMAC    CARPET. 

being   different   from    the    Persian    in    both    weave    and 
pattern. 

Oriental  carpets  and  rugs  may  be  divided  into  four  gen- 
eral classes — Turkish,  Persian,  Daghestan  and  Indian. 
Some  experts  would  say  that  Indians  could  hardly  be  re- 
garded as  a  separate  class.  The  Turkish  goods  are  looser 
in  texture  than  the  Persians  or  Indians,  but  the  length  of 
the  pile  gives  them  thickness  and  durability.  The  de- 
signs are  a  mixture  of  arabesques,  moresques,  medallions 


HISTORY   AND    MANUFACTURE.  33 

and  rosettes.  The  conventionalized  flowers  used  in  them 
are  generally  tulips,  hyacinths  and  roses.  The  best  known 
among  Turkish  rugs  are  called  Oushaks,  because  they 
come  from  the  province  of  that  name.  Among  other 
prominent  makes  are  the  Ghiordes,  Koula,  Dimirdje, 
Youroke  and  Anatolians. 

In  the  Oushak  goods  the  most  usual  colors  are  old  gold, 
old  red  and  cream,  mingled  with  blue.  The  texture  is 
thick  and  the  designs  are  large,  bold  figures,  as  a  rule.  In 
Kirmans,  which  are  a  finer  grade  of  Oushaks,  the  patterns 
are  in  Persian  style,  and  the  Ghiordes  rugs  also  resemble 
Persians  somewhat  in  designs  and  colorings.  Koula  pro- 
duces a  specialty  in  all  wool  carpets  of  primitive  make  but 
excellent  quality,  and  also  an  inferior  kind  of  prayer  rug 
in  which  are  three  parts  of  wool  and  one  of  hemp.  The 
antique  Ghiordes  rugs  were  made  in  mosque  designs,  and 
rank  among  the  finest  Oriental  goods.  The  rugs  and  car- 
pets now  made  in  Ghiordes  are  very  popular  in  the  Euro- 
pean and  American  markets.  They  come  in  all  sizes  and 
in  Turkish,  Indian,  Persian  and  other  patterns.  The 
Dimirdje  rugs  are  similar  to  Ghiordes,  but  heavier.  Meles 
rugs  come  in  small  sizes  only  and  in  peculiar  brownish  red 
effects.  The  centres  are  plain  excepting  a  sort  of  mosque 
design,  and  the  edges  have  a  selvage  like  the  Bokhara  or 
Shiraz  rugs.  The  pile  is  velvety  and  the  wool  used  is  very 
fine .  Youroke  rugs  have  a  long  pile  and  come  in  bright 
reds  and  blues  with  well  covered  grounds. 

The  Sumac  is  woven  more  closely  than  the  Oushak,  and 
has  no  pile.  The  back  is  shaggy,  and  has  long  strands  of 
wool  left  hanging  loosely,  as  in  the  Cashmere  India  shawls. 
For  this  reason  Sumacs  are  often,  but  erroneously,  called 
Cashmeres.  The  Sumac  has  a  longer  fringe  than  most 
other  rugs,  but  this  may  be  more  or  less  worn  away  if  the 


34  FLOOR    COVERINGS. 

rug  is  old,  and  the  strands  of  wool  on  the  back  are  also 
liable  to  be  worn  off  by  years  of  use.  The  designs  are 
conventional,  and  generally  consist  of  several  large  figures 
in  the  centre  on  a  background  which  is  almost  always  a 
deep  rich  red,  which  in  an  old  rug  may  turn  to  a  soft  shade 
of  pink  or  red.  Occasionally  one  sees  a  blue  or  yellow 
ground.  The  border  almost  invariably  consists  of  four 
lines.  The  outer  edge  is  10  inches  wide,  the  design  being 
in  black  or  dark  blue  on  a  red  ground.  Inside  the  red 
border  is  a  white  band  with  bits  of  red  or  blue.  The 
centre  and  largest  line  of  the  border  is  usually  a  zigzag 
design  on  a  black  or  brown  ground.  The  inside  line  is 
white,  like  the  line  next  to  the  outer  edge. 

Under  the  name  of  Daghestan  are  included  the  makes 
of  several  districts  in  or  near  the  Caucasus  Mountains,  and 
also  some  other  rugs  in  which  the  patterns  and  fabric  are 
somewhat  similar.  Like  the  Turkish  goods,  the  Da- 
ghestans  are  of  much  coarser  weave  than  the  Persians,  and 
the  designs  are  com  posed  of  geometrical  figures.  Crooked- 
ness is  another  common  feature,  and  many  good  patterns 
are  spoiled  by  this  defect.  Daghestans  are  not  high  priced 
as  a  rule.  They  come  frequently  in  long  strips,  and  are 
therefore  well  suited  for  halls,  but  the  strips  are  liable  to 
be  curved  or  otherwise  unsymmetrical,  and  even  the  small 
pieces  are  often  much  broader  at  one  end  than  at  the 
other. 

Among  the  makes  which  are  frequently  classed  with 
Daghestans  are  Karabaghs,  Kazaks,  Shirvans,  Cabistans, 
Sumacs  and  Guenges.  Neither  Karabaghs  nor  Kazaks 
ever  come  in  carpet  sizes.  Khivas  and  Bokharas  are  not 
made  in  Daghestan  or  near  it,  but  they  are  made  in 
Russian  territory,  and  in  the  Constantinople  market  they 
are  often  classed  with  the  products  of  Daghestan  or 


HISTORY  AND  MANUFACTURE. 


35 


the  Caucasus  districts.  Karabagh  rugs  have  a  silky  woof 
and  are  closely  sheared.  The  centres  are  light  colored  and 
the  borders  are  often  of  camel's  hair.  Cabistan  is  the 
name  used  for  Daghestans  when  the  goods  are  made  in 
carpet  sizes. 

Fine  Karabagh s  are  remarkable  for  beautiful  combina- 
tions of  colors,  especially  in  the  blending  of  reds,  olives 


CAMEL'S     HAIR     CARPET 


and  blues.  The  nap  is  generally  heavy  and  very  glossy, 
and  the  designs,  although  characterized  by  large  figures, 
are  usually  artistic  as  well  as  striking. 

The  coloring  usually  seen  in  antique  and  modern  Da- 
ghestans is  various  shades  of  red,  blue,  yellow  and  white. 
The  red  changes  with  age  to  a  beautiful  pink  or  rose. 
The  blue  and  yellow  become  richer  or  mellower  as  they 
grow  older,  and  the  white  turns  to  ivory.  A  Daghestan 


36 


FLOOR    COVERINGS. 


rug  always  has  a  fringe  on  one  or  both  ends,  the  warp  being 
carried  out  to  make  it,  but  a  Kazak,  besides  being  heavier 
than  a  Daghestan,  has  no  fringe,  the  warp  being  twisted 
into  a  heavy  cord  or  braid.  This  twisting  draws  the  ends 
of  the  rug  and  makes  it  crooked.  The  colors  of  the 
Kazaks  and  Daghestans  are  generally  the  same,  but  white 
grounds  are  common  in  the  latter  and  rare  in  Kazaks. 

The  Bokhara  and  Afghan  rugs,  although  so  often  classed 
with  Daghestans,   differ  from   them  in   several   respects. 


KARABAGH    CARPET. 


The  Afghans  are  always  prayer  rugs,  and  are  as  a 
rule  softer  in  color  than  the  Bokharas.  The  dominant 
color  in  both  Afghans  and  Bokharas  is  red  of  various 
shades.  The  design  is  generally  an  arrangement  of 
geometrical  figures  in  lines  running  from  end  to  end  of 
the  rug,  and  leaving  only  a  few  inches  around  the  edges 


HISTORY  AND  MANUFACTURE. 


37 


for  what  is  called  the  border.  The  figures  are  squared  off 
with  a  fine  black  line  running  each  way  through  the  cen- 
tre, and  between  the  spaces  are  little  figures  in  various 
tones  of  white,  blue,  green  or  yellow.  The  border, 
when  it  occurs  at  all,  is  made  by  two  narrow  rows  of 


INDIAN    CARPET- 


geometrical  figures,  like  those  in  the  centre  of  the  rug, 
but  much  smaller.  When  made  in  sizes  as  large  as  6x9 
feet  or  larger  the  goods  are  called  Khivas. 

Persia  has  furnished  the  oldest  and  finest  examples  of 


38  FLOOR    COVERINGS. 

Oriental  floor  coverings.  Among  the  best  known  makes 
classed  as  Persian  are  the  Shirvan,  Sennah,  Kirman, 
Mossul,  Cashmere  or  Soumac,  Shiraz,  Ferehan,  Herati, 
Teheran,  Khorassan,  Kurdistan,  Heraz,  Khivas,  Serebend, 
Djorzan,  Savelan,  Hamedan  and  Sedjades. 

The  Ferehan  goods  are  made  in  both  rugs  and  carpet 
sizes,  in  small,  chintz  designs,  with  dark  blue  grounds 
and  reddish  borders.  They  are  not  expensive  and  are 
well  suited  for  dining  reoms  or  libraries. 

Most  genuine  Shiraz  rugs  are  antique  and  are  found  in 
small  sizes  only.  They  are  of  closer  weave  than  the 
Ferehans,  and  are  much  more  varied  in  colorings. 

Savelans  resemble  Ferehans,  but  are  of  finer  weave. 
They  come  in  large,  bold  designs  and  in  a  wide  range  of 
colorings.  Most  of  the  weavers  of  Savelans  are  under  the 
control  of  European  firms,  and  therefore  any  designs  or 
colorings  required  can  be  supplied. 

Cashmeres  or  Soumacs  are  often  classed  with  the  makes 
of  the  Caucasus,  and  a  rug  called  Cashmere  is  also  made 
in  India.  The  Cashmere  is  woven  without  a  woof  and  in 
large  medallion  designs.  The  ground  is  generally  dark 
red.  The  antique  specimens  have  admirable  colorings, 
but  the  modern  goods  are  often  crude  in  this  respect.  A 
characteristic  of  many  Cashmere  rug  designs  is  a  figure 
representing  an  obelisk. 

Hamedans  rank  among  the  least  expensive  of  Persian 
makes,  but  they  are  both  durable  and  handsome.  They 
resemble  the  Heraz  in  pattern,  having  medallion  centres, 
with  conventional  floral  treatment,  and  borders  in  which 
the  designs  are  also  floral. 

Sedjades,  Kirmans  and  Sennahs  rank  among  the 
choicest  products  of  the  Oriental  looms.  The  Sedjades  are 
largely  used  for  wall  hangings.  Sennahs  are  woven  closely 


HISTORY  AND  MANUFACTURE. 


39 


and  have  a  short,  silky  pile  of  goat  hair.  The  colorings 
are  delicate  opaline  shades,  suggesting  sapphire,  gold  and 
rich  ivory.  The  borders  are  generally  in  mosaic  designs. 
These  rugs  are  rarely  found  larger  than  5x7  feet. 

The  weave  of  the  Kirman  rugs  is  especially  close  and 
fine.  The  pile  is  as  lustrous  as  silk,  especially  in  the 
antique  specimens.  The  old  gold  and  ivory  grounds, 


TURKOMAN    CARPET. 

characteristic  of  many  of  these  rugs,  are  beautiful 
specimens  of  Oriental  coloring. 

Kurdistan  rugs  are  closely  woven,  have  a  short,  velvety 
pile,  and  are  somewhat  subdued  in  colorings. 

Khorassans  are  of  fine  texture,  and  the  floral  designs, 
which  are  much  used  in  them,  are  less  conventional  in  treat- 
ment than  is  the  case  with  most  other  Oriental  patterns. 

Khivas  or  Bokharas  are  made  of  thick  fine  wool,  woven 


40  FLOOR    COVERINGS. 

very  closely,  and  rank  among  the  finest  rugs  made  in  the 
Orient.  They  come  generally  in  two  styles  of  designs,  one 
being  known  as  the  round  and  the  other  as  the  temple. 
The  ground  is  usually  red,  in  various  tints. 

The  rugs  called  Kelems  are  made  in  several  provinces 
of  Persia.  They  have  patterns  which  are  the  same  on  both 
sides,  and  being  of  light  and  flexible  texture  they  are  used 
for  portieres  and  table  and  sofa  covers,  as  well  as  for  floor 
coverings.  The  designs  are  good  and  the  colorings  are 
brilliant. 

The  Namads  or  felt  carpets  of  Persia  are  made  by  digging 
out  a  space  in  the  earth  as  large  and  as  deep  as  the  size 
and  thickness  required  for  the  carpet,  and  then  filling  the 
space  with  hair,  which  is  beaten  with  mallets  until  it  be- 
comes a  cohesive  mass.  A  design  of  colored  threads  is 
beaten  into  the  upper  surface.  The  large  size  and  weight 
of  these  carpets  render  them  undesirable  for  export. 

The  special  features  of  Persian  designs  are  coiling  tendril 
work,  with  indented  leaf  and  palmetto-like  blossom.  These 
designs  are  often  found  in  combination  with  figures  of  ani- 
mals, flowering  plants  and  trees. 

The  leading  makes  of  East  Indian  carpets  are  the  Push- 
meina,  Punjaub,  Maharajah,  Cabul,  Cashmere,  Candahar, 
Agra,  Mirzapore,  Amrister,  Juipore  and  Marzuliptan. 

The  Pushmeina  rugs  are  made  of  the  finest  wool,  closely 
woven,  and  are  both  rare  and  expensive.  The  Agras  are 
notable  for  heaviness,  rigidity  and  stiffness.  Rug  making 
is  carried  on  to  a  considerable  extent  in  the  jails  of  India, 
this  kind  of  work  being  found  well  suited  for  the  convicts 
of  that  country.  There  are  also  several  large  and  success- 
ful factories  controlled  by  foreign  firms,  but  the  industry 
has  lost  the  prominence  it  enjoyed  in  the  past. 


CHAPTER    V. 
SAVONNERIE  AND  AUBUSSON  CARPETS. 

HE  French  Savonnerie  carpets  are  woven  on 
high  warp  tapestry  looms  in  the  same  fac- 
tory at  Paris  in  which  the  Gobelin  tapes- 
tries are  made ;  but  the  method  of  weav- 
ing them  differs  entirely  from  that  em- 
ployed in  the  making  of  Gobelin  tapes- 
tries. Savonnerie  carpets  are,  properly  speaking,  velvets. 
The  warp  is  wound  vertically  on  two  cylinders,  and 
arranged  as  in  the  tapestry  loom,  but  the  worsted  threads 
composing  the  woof,  which  are  to  form  the  surface  of  the 
carpet,  are  fastened  by  a  double  knot  on  two  threads  of 
the  warp,  which  is  of  wool  and  double,  combining  itself 
with  the  threads  of  the  velvety  surface,  and  also  with  a 
warp  and  weft,  which  do  not  appear  on  the  outside.  The 
weaver,  while  at  his  work,  sees  the  right  side  of  the  fabric, 
not  the  other,  as  in  the  weaving  of  Gobelin  tapestry. 

To  make  the  knot  he  takes  a  shuttle,  separates  with  his 
left  hand  the  thread  of  the  warp  on  which  he  is  to  begin 
and  draws  it  toward  him ;  he  then  passes  behind  it  the 
shuttle  and  the  worsted  thread,  which  he  holds  with  his 
right  hand,  and  then  bringing  forward  the  next  thread  of 
the  warp  makes  a  running  knot  around  it,  which  he  tight- 
ens. Between  these  two  shoots  the  wool  forms  on  the 
front  of  the  warp  a  ring  having  a  diameter  in  accordance 
with  the  height  of  the  pile.  The  weaver  then  intersects 
the  threads  of  the  warp  with  another  hempen  thread,  form- 
ing the  weft.  To  do  this  he  advances  the  threads  which 


42  FLOOR   COVERINGS. 

are  behind,  passes  the  woof  between  the  two  rows  of 
threads  and  allows  those  from  the  back  to  resume  their 
former  place.  In  this  manner  each  of  the  knots  is,  as  it 
were,  linked  together.  The  knots  and  hempen  threads  are 
then  struck  with  the  comb  and  forced  inside  the  fabric  so 
as  to  be  invisible.  Finally  the  carpet  is  clipped  or  shaved, 
this  being  necessary  on  account  of  the  unequal  length  of 
the  ends  of  wool  left  in  cutting  the  loops  of  the  pile.  The 
clipping  process  requires  much  precision  on  the  part  of 
the  workman  and  has  an  important  bearing  on  the  appear- 
ance of  the  carpet. 

As  Savonnerie  carpets  are  larger  than  most  pieces  of 
Gobelin  tapestry,  the  looms  in  which  they  are  made  are 
also  larger,  and  allow  several  weavers  to  work  on  a  carpet 
at  the  same  time. 

Aubusson  carpets  are  made  at  the  well-known  tapestry 
factory  at  Aubusson,  France.  Only  low  warp  looms  are 
employed  in  this  factory,  while  at  the  Gobelins  only  high 
warp  looms  are  used.  The  Aubusson  carpets  differ  from 
the  tapestries  of  the  same  factory  mainly  in  being  of 
coarser  and  thinner  weave. 

In  the  low  warp  loom  the  cylinders,  which  are  placed 
horizontally,  are  inserted  in  two  wooden  checks,  which 
are  supported  by  uprights.  Around  one  of  these  cylinders 
is  placed  the  warp,  and  the  web,  as  it  progresses,  is  rolled 
on  the  second  cylinder.  Two  treadles  are  used  to  raise 
alternately  each  leaf  of  the  warp.  The  workman  seated 
on  a  bench  placed  in  front  of  the  loom,  with  his  feet  rest- 
ing on  the  treadles,  separates  with  his  fingers  the  threads 
of  the  warp  which  he  requires,  and  passes  between  the  two 
leaves  of  the  warp  a  broach,  so  called,  which  is  mounted 
with  wool.  He  regulates  the  courses  with  a  reed  and 
presses  them  down  with  a  comb  of  wood  or  ivory. 


HISTORY  AND  MANUFACTURE.  43 

In  making  the  body  the  workman  weaves  the  ground 
until  he  reaches  the  point  where  the  figure  begins.  Hav- 
ing the  design  before  him,  he  then  inserts  the  yarns 
which  go  to  make  the  figure,  these  yarns  being  hung  near 
him  so  that  he  can  take  up  each  color  as  required.  There 
are  no  repeats  in  an  Aubusson  centre  design,  the  char- 
acteristic feature  of  such  patterns  being  a  medallion. 

Savonnerie  and  Aubusson  carpets  being  hand  made  and 
ot  fine  material,  rank  among  the  most  expensive  of  floor 
coverings.  The  demand  for  them  is  comparatively  small, 
especially  in  the  United  States,  where  a  heavy  import  duty 
is  added  to  the  high  cost  of  manufacture. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

HAND  MADE  AND  CHENILLE  AXMINSTERS. 

t 

LD-STYLE  hand  made  Axminsters  were  first 
manufactured  by  Thomas  Whitty,  who  es- 
tablished a  factory  for  the  purpose  at 
Axminster,  England,  in  1755.  When  Mr. 
Whitty  failed  in  business  some  years  later 
the  industry  was  transferred  to  Wilton, 
where  a  factory  for  the  manufacture  of  the  goods  is  still 
in  operation. 

In  1833  James  Templeton,  a  manufacturer  of  chenille 
shawls  at  Paisley,  Scotland,  conceived  the  idea  that  the 
process  of  making  these  shawls  might  be  applied  in  the 
manufacture  of  Axminster  carpets,  and  this  was  the  origin 
of  the  Templeton  Chenille  Axminsters,  which  are  now 
produced  in  the  factory  of  Templeton  &  Co.,  Glasgow, 
Scotland.  This  firm  are  also  extensive  manufacturers  of 
machine  made  Axminsters. 

In  the  weaving  of  the  old-fashioned  hand  made  Axmin- 
sters the  carpet  is  made  in  one  piece  on  a  loom  which  con- 
sists substantially  of  a  large  wooden  roller  or  winch,  about 
£  feet  6  inches  in  diameter  and  some  20  feet  long,  pinned 
at  the  ends  to  two  uprights.  These  uprights  are  joined 
together  by  a  beam  some  4  or  5  feet  above  the  roller,  and 
of  course  parallel  to  it.  The  long  warp  threads  of  the 
carpet  are  passed  over  this  beam  and  separated  from  one 
another  by  little  pins  or  studs  in  the  beam.  The  strong 
linen  threads  comprising  this  warp  are  fixed  to  the  roller 
at  one  end,  the  other  end  being  also  secured. 


46  FLOOR   COVERINGS. 

The  girls  who  do  the  weaving  sit  beside  one  another 
on  a  long  bench  in  front  of  the  loom,  each  girl  having  a 
certain  width  of  carpet  to  weave.  She  has  first  to  fix  the 
pile  to  the  warp  strands,  and  then  to  weave  the  strands 
into  a  solid  backing. 

Beside  her,  so  that  her  left  hand  can  reach  them,  hang 
a  number  of  short  lengths  of  wool  of  various  colors.  In 
front  of  her  is  pinned  the  colored  paper  pattern  which  she 
is  to  reproduce  in  the  carpet.  Guided  by  her  pattern  she 
takes  the  appropriate  piece  of  wool,  ties  it  tightly  on  to 
the  warp  strand,  and  then,  with  a  pair  of  scissors,  snips 
off  the  two  ends  of  the  knot  within  about  an  inch  of  the 
strand.  In  this  way  the  two  woolen  tufts  are  left  standing 
out  from  the  warp,  and  by  placing  a  succession  of  them 
side  by  side  the  thick  pile  of  the  carpet  is  gradually  built 
up.  When  one  row  of  tufts  is  completed,  a  shuttle  carry- 
ing strong  threads  is  passed  once  backward  and  once  for- 
ward between  the  strands,  thus  interweaving  warp  and 
tufts.  Then  comes  another  row  of  tufts,  and  the  passing 
of  the  shuttle  as  before,  and  so  on  until  the  carpet  is 
finished.  Each  tuft  of  the  pile  goes  through  to  the  very 
back  of  the  carpet,  so  that  real  Axminster  cannot  become 
threadbare  until  it  is  worn  entirely  through. 

The  process  of  manufacture  is  slow,  and  the  thick,  heavy 
pile  calls  for  a  great  amount  of  wool ;  consequently  real 
Axminster  carpets  are  extremely  expensive.  The  demand 
for  them,  as  with  Aubusson  and  Savonnerie  carpets, 
comes  from  quarters  where  more  importance  is  attached 
to  quality  than  to  price — large  and  fashionable  hotels, 
club  houses,  royal  palaces,  and  houses  of  the  rich.  The 
floor  coverings  known  as  Berlin  carpets  are  similar  to 
Axminsters.  They  are  made  in  Germany,  and  also  at  a 
factory  in  Morrisania,  New  York  city. 


HISTORY  AND  MANUFACTURE.  47 

In  the  machine  made  chenille  Axminsters,  the  chenille 
is  first  woven  so  as  to  form  a  double  fringe  of  colored  yarn 
with  a  fine  thread  running  along  the  centre  to  keep  the 
thread  lengths  of  wool  taut.  This  fabric  is  then  cut  into 
strips,  each  of  which  is  bound  into  a  V-shape,  so  that  the 
double  fringe  becomes  a  series  of  thick  tufts  of  wool  side 
by  side  and  firmly  held  together  by  the  binding  thread. 
This  chenille  is  then  ready  to  serve  as  the  weft  of  the 
carpet  fabric,  being  laid  across  the  warp  threads  and  woven 
into  place  in  the  loom,  a  hand  loom  being  used  for  all 
chenille  Axminsters  wider  than  27  inches. 


CHAPTER    V1L 
BODY  BRUSSELS  AND  WILTONS. 

ODY  BRUSSELS  carpeting  consists  of  a  worst- 
ed yarn  built  upon  a  linen  or  cotton  chain, 
and  a  linen  weft.  The  worsted  warp  which 
forms  the  face  of  the  carpet  is  wound  on 
reeb  or  bobbins  arranged  on  large  hori- 
zontal frames,  which  are  placed  one  above 
the  other  in  the  rear  of  the  loom.  Each 
reel  supplies  one  thread  of  worsted  to  the  loom,  and  as 
there  are  260  threads  in  the  width  of  a  Brussels  carpet 
(27  inches),  there  are  necessarily  260  reels  on  each  frame. 
The  loops  which  appear  on  the  face  of  the  fabric  are 
made  by  the  insertion  of  wires  when  the  worsted  warp  has 
been  raised  by  the  operation  of  the  Jacquard.  These  wires 
are  withdrawn  and  inserted  again  at  regular  intervals  as 
the  weaving  proceeds.  The  warp  from  each  frame  is 
drawn  in  a  continuous  web  into  the  loom,  and  the  Jacquard 
attachment  above  the  looms  controls  every  separate  strand 
of  the  1,000  to  1,500  which  are  being  fed  into  the  loom 
from  all  the  frames.  Each  yarn  is  raised  into  the  face  of 
the  carpet  or  dropped  into  the  body  according  to  the  pat- 
tern on  the  Jacquard. 

A  Brussels  carpet  is  called  5  frame  when  it  is  woven 
from  five  of  the  frames  referred  to,  and  if  but  four  are 
used  it  is  termed  a  4  frame  Brussels.  It  is  obvious  that 
if  each  of  the  frames  is  run  with  its  full  warp  a  5  frame 
carpet  will  contain  25  per  cent,  more  wool  than  a  4  frame. 
The  number  of  frames  used  never  exceeds  six,  and  if 


50 


FLOOR   COVERINGS. 


each  contributed  but  a  single  color  to  the  warp  the  greatest 
number  of  colors  possible  would  be  six.  But  some  Body 
Brussels  contain  as  many  as  twenty-five  or  thirty  colors 


11  I 


!•  •  ... 

.'".:: ::.".:  a 

:nvn,» 

:%^%      =  ='     %^^>^  ' 


••"• 


y/z>.  v& 


fflfflS 


this  variety  being  obtained  by  "  planting  "  warps  of  differ- 
ent colors  on  the  same  frame.  But  it  is  evident  that  the 
number  of  colors  in  any  perfectly  straight  line  running 
lengthwise  in  the  carpet  cannot  be  greater  than  the  actual 


HISTORY  AND  MANUFACTURE.  51 

number  of  frames.  Modifications  of  color  lengthwise  can 
be  obtained  only  by  dropping  the  warp  of  one  frame  and 
picking  up  the  corresponding  warp  of  another. 

If  a  color — as,  for  example,  blue — appears  only  in  spots 
or  in  small  masses  of  any  kind,  and  these  are  separated 
from  each  other  by  some  distance  in  the  width  of  the  car- 
pet, it  is  then  obvious  that  this  color  does  not  go  all  over ; 
but  if  certain  colors  recur  constantly  throughout  the  entire 
width  of  the  fabric,  then  the  number  of  these  will  show  how 
many  frames  or  thicknesses  of  worsted  are  in  the  carpet. 

In  the  diagram  presented  herewith,  which  represents  a 
ruled  paper  drawing  of  a  six  color,  four  frame  Brussels  car- 
pet, the  diagonal  lines  indicate  one  color,  the  dots 
another,  the  vertical  lines  another,  the  horizontal  lines 
another,  the  white  spaces  another  and  the  black  another, 
while  by  a  glance  at  the  gamut  a  it  will  be  seen  that  but 
four  thicknesses  of  yarns  are  necessary  for  weaving  this 
pattern,  the  yarns  being  of  six  colors.  Frames  1  and  2, 
counting  from  the  top,  are  "planted";  that  is,  each  of 
them  contains  more  than  one  color,  and  the  first  three 
frames  are  also  imperfect.  Thus  in  the  top  frame  one  stitch 
out  of  every  ten  is  omitted,  or  twenty-six  in  the  entire 
width  of  260  threads;  in  the  next  frame  four  are  saved  out 
of  every  ten,  or  104  in  the  width,  and  in  the  third  frame 
one  is  saved  out  of  every  ten,  or  twenty-six  in  the  width. 
The  fourth  frame  alone  is  complete. 

Wilton  carpets  are  woven  just  as  Brussels  are,  excepting 
that  the  wires  used  in  making  Wiltons  have  a  sharp  blade 
attached,  and  so  arranged  that  when  they  are  drawn  out 
the  blades  cut  the  loops  open,  and  thus  form  a  plush  sur- 
face. The  pile  of  a  Wilton  carpet  is  higher  than  the  loops 
of  a  Brussels,  about  50  per  cent,  more  yarn  being  used  tor 
Wiltons. 


i  tm. 


mi  i 


CHAPTER    VIII. 
TAPESTRY-BRUSSELS  AND  VELVET  CARPETING. 

HE  salient  feature  of  the  manufacture  of 
Tapestry  or  Tapestry  Brussels,  and  Velvet 
carpeting  is  the  printing  of  the  pattern 
on  the  yarn  warp,  thread  by  thread,  be- 
fore the  carpet  itself  is  woven  on  the 
loom.  The  pattern  is  drawn  and  colored 
on  rule  paper,  just  as  the  Body  Brussels 
pattern  is  laid  out.  Some  years  ago  it  was 
customary  to  elongate  the  drawing  in  order 
to  allow  for  the  loops  on  the  surface  of 
the  finished  fabric,  but  this  method  is  not 

necessary 
now. 

Next 
comes  the 
first  distinc- 
tive step  in 
Tapestry 
making, 
which  is  the 
cutting  of 

the  rule  paper  pattern 
lengthwise  into  several  ob- 
long strips,  one  of  which 
is  shown  in  Fig.  1  of  the 
engravings  presented  herewith.  This  strip  represents 
consecutive  threads  which  run  lengthwise  through  the 
entire  piece  of  carpet,  and  for  the  sake  of  clearness  in  this 


i  \n\i\ 
i  i  i  i 


FIG.    1. 


FIG.   2. 


54 


FLOOR  COVERINGS. 


FIG.  3. 


description,  these  strips  are  shown  again,  separated  from 

each  other  as  in  Fig.  2      The  number  of  warp  threads  in 

a  width  (27  inches)  of  Tapestry  carpeting  varies  from 
about  180  in  the  low  grades  to  216 
in  ten  wire  goods.  Each  strip  of 
pattern  paper  is  placed  on  an  oblong 
board,  and  when  the  dyeing  of  the 
threads  represented  on  it  is  to 
begin  the  board  is  taken  to  the 
printing  drum.  These  drums  vary 

in  diameter  in  accordance  with  the  length  of  the  pattern, 

or  sometimes  the  number  of  repeats  in  it.     The  drum  is 

first  covered  with  an 

oil  cloth,  which  is  in 

turn     covered     with 

white    yarn,     wound 

around   it   as  closely 

as   the  thread  on  an 

ordinary  reel  of  cot- 
ton. The  drum  re- 
volves on  its  axis  and 

the  man  who  guides 

its     movement      has 

hung  before  him  for 

reference  one  of  the 

oblong  strips   of   the 

pattern    previously 

mentioned.     Each  of 

the    various    threads 

represented    on    the 

strip  is  designated  by 

a  number,  and  every 

color   which   appears  FIG  4 


HISTORY  AND  MANUFACTURE. 


in  the  pattern  has  also  a  number.  The  drum  also  bears 
near  its  edge  a  series  of  numbers  and  is  provided  with 
a  ratchet  arrangement  which  enables  the  operator  to  guide 
the  revolution  of  the  drum  in  accordance  with  the  ruled 
squares  of  color  upon  the  design.  Underneath  the  drum 
is  a  small  carriage  running  on  rails,  and  in  this  carriage, 
which  contains  a  quantity  of  dye,  a  wheel  revolves  as 
shown  in  Fig.  3,  the  top  of  the  wheel  being  just  high 
enough  to  touch  the  thread  on  the  drum,  and  thus  cover 
it  with  dye.  The  printer,  referring  to  his  pattern,  sees 
the  color  needed  for,  say,  the  first  square  in  it,  and  the 
carriage  is  then  passed  along  the  rails,  so  that  the  color 
required  is  printed  or  ruled  across  the  thread.  Dur- 
ing this  operation  the  drum  is  held  in  place  by  the 
ratchets,  its  revolution  and  the  movement  of  the  carriage 
beneath  being  regulated  by  the  printer's  comparison  of  the 
index  on  the  drum  with  the  numbers  on  the  print  board. 

The  width  of  the  dyed  portion  of  the  thread  does  not 
correspond  exactly  with  the  square  or  squares  of  the  pat- 
tern, some  allowance  being 
made  for  the  fact  that  the  fabric 
will  be  woven  in  loops  like 
Body  Brussels.  As  has  been 
said,  the  loops  were  formerly 
provided  for  by  elongating  the 
design,  but  this  had  disadvan- 
tages, and  most  manufacturers 
now  make  the  movement  of  the 
drum  answer  instead,  some  al- 
lowance being  also  made  for 

the  stretching  of  the  yarn  when  the  loops  are  formed.  Fig. 
4  represents  the  drum  with  the  yarn  wound  around  it, 
the  dark  stripes  showing  where  the  dye  has  been  applied. 


56  FLOOR  COVERINGS. 

The  printing  of  the  yarn  on  the  drum  is  continued  in  the 
way  described  until  all  the  colors  needed  for  the  particular 
thread  which  covers  it  have  been  applied.  It  was  formerly 
the  custom  for  the  printer  to  scrape  the  yarn  with  his 
fingers  to  remove  superfluous  dye,  but  this  operation  is 
now  performed  much  better  by  a  mechanical  scraping  de- 
vice, in  which  a  rubber  substitute  for  a  finger  follows  the 
dyeing  wheel  in  its  passage  across  the  thread. 

The  dyed  yarn,  all  of  which  forms  but  a  single  thread 
in  a  piece  of  carpeting,  is  then  removed  from  the  drum  to 
the  steaming  room,  where  it  remains  long  enough  to  fix 
the  colors  firmly,  and  is  then  allowed  to  dry.  From  the 
drying  room  it  passes  to  the  reeling  machine,  which  winds 
it  on  a  spool,  and  it  is  then  ready  for  the  setters,  whose 
work  consists  in  setting  side  by  side  all  the  pattern  warp 
threads  which  are  to  appear  in  the  carpet  when  it  is 
finished.  At  one  end  of  the  setting  machine  are  arranged 
the  reels  or  bobbins  of  thread,  every  thread  in  the  width 
of  the  carpet  being  wound  on  its  particular  bobbin,  the 
number  of  bobbins  running  of  course  from  180  to  216.  The 
thread  on  each  bobbin  is  pulled  out  and  fastened  to  a  roller 
at  the  other  end  of  the  machine.  The  roller  is  then  run 
out  to  a  certain  length,  the  threads  being  thus  drawn  taut 
side  by  side,  like  the  strings  of  a  piano,  but  touching  each 
other.  Two  girls,  one  standing  at  each  side  of  the  ma- 
chine, then  take  each  thread  separately  and  move  it  to  its 
proper  place,  as  it  appears  in  a  somewhat  elongated  copy 
of  the  pattern,  which  is  placed  on  the  machine  underneath 
the  threads.  As  a  certain  portion  of  the  threads  is  passed 
it  is  wound  on  the  roller  at  the  other  end,  and  when  the 
setting  process  is  completed  the  yarn  on  this  roller  is  ready 
to  be  woven  in  the  loom.  Fig.  5  shows  the  pattern  as  it 
appears  in  the  finished  carpet. 


HISTOR  Y  AND  MANUFACTURE.  57 

Tapestry  carpeting  has  a  backing  of  jute  yarn,  a  cotton 
chain,  and  a  linen  or  cotton  weft,  which  serves  as  a  binding 
thread  for  the  loops,  these  being  made  over  wires  as  in  the 
weaving  of  Body  Brussels.  Until  recently  all  Tapestry 
looms  have  been  subject  to  a  serious  defect,  in  the  liability 
of  the  printed  warp  to  run  unevenly  in  relation  to  the 
ground  warp.  When  this  trouble  occurs  the  successive 
''blocks  "  of  the  pattern  are  too  long  or  short,  and  do  not 
register  accurately  with  successive  portions  of  the  warp 
strands  so  as  to  secure  uniformity  in  the  appearance  of 
breadths,  and  the  matching  of  the  pattern  in  successive 
breadths  when  placed  side  by  side.  This  difficulty  has 
been  overcome  by  a  recent  invention  which  insures  the 
accurate  registry  of  the  pattern  blocks  with  the  other 
portions  of  the  body  fabric,  any  irregularity  which  occurs 
being  corrected  by  the  automatic  action  of  an  ingenious 
mechanism  by  which  the  tension  on  the  warp  yarns  is 
increased  or  diminished  as  may  be  necessary.  This 
device  not  only  removes  the  danger  of  weaving  unmatch- 
able  goods,  but  also  enables  one  operative  to  run  two 
looms  instead  of  one,  thus  doubling  or  almost  doubling  the 
capacity  of  the  Tapestry  loom. 

Velvet  carpeting  is  the  same  as  Tapestry  Brussels,  ex- 
cepting that  the  wire  used  in  the  weaving  has  a  knife-like 
edge  which  cuts  open  the  loops  as  it  is  withdrawn  and 
forms  a  pile  surface  as  in  Wilton  carpeting.  Velvet  car- 
pets also  resemble  Wiltons  in  the  fact  that  more  yarn  is 
used  for  the  pile  than  is  considered  necessary  when  the 
loops  are  not  to  be  cut  as  in  Body  Brussels. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
PRINTED  TAPESTRY  CARPETING. 

making  of  Tapestry  Brussels  by  the  method 
which  has  been  described  enables  the  manu- 
facturer to  produce  handsome  carpeting  at  a 
low  cost,  but  the  dyeing  of  the  yarn  is  a 
delicate  operation  and  the  process  of  manufacture 
throughout  requires  much  skill  and  care  and  the 
investment  of  a  large  amount  of  capital.  For  these  and 
other  reasons  many  attempts  have  been  made  to  simplify 
the  process  and  to  reduce  still  further  the  cost  of  manu- 
facture, but  among  all  the  improvements  put  forward  in 
this  line  of  invention  during  the  past  forty  years  or  more, 
the  conception  of  James  Dunlap,  of  Philadelphia,  has 
proved  the  most  successful. 

In  the  process  patented  by  Mr.  Dunlap  in  1891  the 
yarns  are  woven  undyed,  or  dyed  of  a  uniform  basic  color 
or  tone,  and  they  are  woven  like  a  Tapestry  or  Velvet 
carpet,  that  is,  without  a  Jacquard  machine.  After  the 
fabric  is  woven,  with  the  pile  cut  or  uncut,  as  desired,  it  is 
submitted  to  the  action  of  a  color  printing  machine  some- 
what similar  to  that  which  is  used  in  calico  printing,  in 
which  the  fabric  is  wound  on  a  large  pressure  drum  or 
roller,  and  pattern  rollers,  one  for  each  color  and  engraved 
to  produce  the  design  desired,  revolve  in  contact  with  the 
face  of  the  undyed  carpet. 

The  idea  of  impressing  a  design  upon  an  undyed  carpet 
by  means  of  block  or  roller  printing  devices  was  not  a  new 
one,  but  Mr.  Dunlap's  method  of  carrying  it  out  was 
original  and  overcame  an  obstacle  which  had  baffled  all 


60  FLOOR  COVERINGS. 

previous  inventors.  This  difficulty  was  caused  by  the  fact 
that  a  pile  carpet,  cut  or  uncut,  is  a  comparatively  soft, 
yielding  mass,  which,  to  be  perfectly  dyed,  must  receive 
the  color  not  only  on  the  tips  of  the  pile,  but  down  to  the 
very  roots  and  even  into  the  back.  Moreover,  the  color 
must  be  so  applied  that  the  yielding  or  wearing  of  the  pile 
in  use  will  not  distort  the  pattern.  Great  pressure  must 
be  employed  to  force  the  color  into  and  through  the  fabric, 
and  the  dyeing  matter  must  be  used  in  considerable  quan- 
tity, but  not  so  as  to  fly  or  run  laterally  in  the  pile  beyond 
the  exact  limits  of  the  particular  figure  of  the  pattern 
being  printed  at  that  point. 

In  Mr.  Dunlap's  process  the  carpet  fabric,  after  being 
woven  undyed  in  an  ordinary  Tapestry  loom,  is  prepared 
for  the  reception  of  the  dyes  by  dampening  its  surface 
with  a  mixture  of  oil,  vitriol  and  other  ingredients.  The 
fabric  is  then  dried  by  running  it  over  hot  cylinders.  For 
printing  the  carpet,  the  designs  engraved  upon  the  print- 
ing rollers  are  cut  to  a  certain  depth,  and  then  further  and 
deeper  cuts  are  made  in  the  form  of  cells  or  cups  evenly 
distributed  over  the  entire  figure.  These  cups  receive 
the  heads  of  the  pile  and  the  great  pressure  with  which 
the  roller  is  applied  forces  the  color  into  their  very  roots. 
After  passing  the  fabric  through  the  rollers  steam  is 
forced  into  and  through  it  from  both  sides,  in  order  to 
drive  the  dye  into  it  and  at  the  same  time  to  raise  the 
pile,  which  has  been  forced  down  by  the  pressure  of  the 
printing  roller. 

In  June,  1896,  Mr.  Dunlap  obtained  an  additional  patent 
for  certain  improvements  on  his  original  process,  by  which 
the  various  steps  in  it  which  have  been  described  are  per- 
formed continuously  and  automatically,  instead  of  being 
more  or  less  independent  of  each  other.  This  improve- 


HISTOR  Y  AND  MAN  UFA  CTURE.  61 

ment  was  accomplished  by  embracing  in  a  single  structure 
a  printing  mechanism,  a  steam  chamber,  a  starching  ap- 
paratus, a  drying  chamber  and  means  for  operating  auto- 
matically and  in  concert  the  various  parts  of  the  structure. 


CHAPTER    X. 

MOQUETTES   AND    MACHINE   MADE   AXMiNSTERS. 

HE  carpeting  which  first  bore  the  name  of  Mo- 
quette  was  practically  the  same  as  the  Wilton 
fabric.  In  the  United  States  Moquette  is  the 
name  applied  to  a  tufted  pile  machine-made 
carpeting  first  manufactured  by  Alexander 
Smith  on  a  loom  invented  by  Halcyon  Skin- 
ner and  patented  in  1856.  These  American  Mo- 
quettes  are  an  imitation  of  a  carpeting  first 
made  at  Nimes,  France.  The  French  goods  were  made  on 
a  hand  loom  only,  but  ttalcyon  Skinner's  invention  ren- 
dered it  possible  to  make  them  on  power  looms  and  so  ef- 
fect a  great  saving  of  the  cost  of  manufacture.  At  the 
present  time  the  name  of  Axminster  is  also  used  to 
designate  carpeting  which  is  practically  the  same  as 
Moquette,  differing  mainly  in  the  number  of  tufts  of 
wool  to  the  inch  or  in  the  manner  of  fastening 
the  tufts  more  or  less  firmly  in  the  fabric.  In  the  Skin- 
ner Moquette  loom  the  warp  is  composed  of  two  parts 
mounted  on  separate  beams  and  comprising  threads  of 
different  grades  of  fineness,  the  warp  of  coarser  threads  be- 
ing under  greater  tension  than  the  other  so  as  to  be  kept 
straight  as  possible,  that  of  the  finer  thread  being  under 
less  tension,  so  as  to  be  bent  around  the  woolen  pile  tufts 
and  the  weft  threads.  The  straight  or  coarse  warp  is  sub- 
divided into  two  parts,  one  being  called  the  tufting  warp 
because  the  tufts  are  secured  to  it,  and  the  other  the  body 
warp  because  it  gives  firmness  to  the  fabric.  The  pile  con- 


64  FLOOR  COVERINGS. 

sists  of  a  succession  of  the  tufts  of  yarn  referred  to,  ex- 
tending across  the  fabric,  with  the  ends  standing  upward. 
To  carry  the  yarns  which  form  the  tufts  spools  about  as 
long  as  the  width  of  the  fabric  are  employed,  the  number  of 
spools  composing  the  series  being  equal  to  the  number  of 
ranges  of  tufts  required  to  complete  the  pattern  desired. 
The  yarns  are  wound  on  each  spool  with  such  an  arrange- 
ment of  colors  as  may  be  required  by  the  part  of  the  figure 
supplied  by  that  spool.  The  spools  are  mounted  in  suc- 
cession on  the  links  of  a  pair  of  endless  chains  which  move 
in  unison  and  with  a  positive  motion,  to  bring  each  spool 
in  succession  to  the  position  for  introducing  one  range  of 
tufts  into  the  fabric.  The  journals  of  the  spools  work  in  a 
frame  which  engages  with  the  links  of  the  chain  by  means 
of  spring  clips. 

In  beginning  the  weaving,  the  mechanism  of  the  loom 
detaches  the  first  of  the  series  of  spools  with  its  frame  from 
the  chains  and  carries  it  down  in  front  of  the  lay  just  over 
the  tufting  warps.  The  tufting  yarn  is  then  grasped  by  a 
series  of  nippers,  drawn  out  and  carried  around  the  pairs 
of  tufting  warps,  these  nippers  being  mechanical  substitutes 
for  the  Oriental  weaver's  fingers  in  his  hand  loom.  The 
heddles  are  then  operated  so  as  to  hold  the  tufts  in  posi- 
tion while  the  nippers  let  go  their  hold  and  two  steel  blades 
then  cut  the  tufting  from  the  several  parcels  in  the  spools. 
The  tufts  are  then  woven  into  the  body  of  the  fabric,  thus 
completing  one  row  of  tufts  in  the  fabric.  This  operation 
is  repeated  for  the  next  row  and  so  on  continuously. 

Since  Halcyon  Skinner's  loom  was  first  put  into  use 
many  changes  have  been  made  in  both  the  mechanism  of 
the  loom  and  the  fabric  manufactured  on  it,  but  the  essen- 
tial features  of  the  weaving  process  remain  as  here  de- 
scribed. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


SMYRNA  RUGS. 

SMYRNA  rug  is  simply  a  chenille  Axminster 
fabric  with  the  wool  distributed  on  both 
sides,  instead  of  only  on  the  face.  The 
goods  were  at  first  a  by-product  of  the 
factory  of  the  Messrs.  Templeton  at  Glas- 
gow. This  firm  were  the  original  manu- 
facturers of  the  chenille  Axminster  car- 
peting, and  from  the  waste  chenille  they 
made  what  they  called  an  Afghan  rug, 
which  had  a  double  instead  of  a  single  face.  The  goods 
were  woven  only  in  hit  or  miss  or  mottled  patterns,  and  the 
Oriental  and  other  effects  now  the  prevailing  styles  in 
these  rugs  originated  in  this  country. 

The  double  faced  chenille  fabric  was  first  made  by 
European  manufacturers  of  shawls,  and  it  was  these 
shawls  which  suggested  to  carpet  manufacturers  the  idea 
of  making  a  floor  covering  of  the  same  material. 

Robert  Beattie  &  Sons  were  pioneers  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  Smyrna  rugs  in  this  country.  They  were  perhaps 
the  earliest  "manufacturers  of  them,  and  they  were  cer- 
tainly the  first  to  make  them  in  any  considerable  quantity. 
They  made  them  at  first  by  sewing  together  breadths  of 
chenille  carpeting,  and  sewing  on  a  border,  which  was 
woven  with  separate  corner  pieces  to  avoid  mitering.  The 
goods  were  made  in  one  size,  6x9  feet,  and  sold  as  "  Turk- 
istan  "  carpets.  Most  of  them  were  bought  by  Joseph 
Wild  &  Co.,  and  it  was  this  firm  that  suggested  to  the 


66  FLOOR  COVERINGS, 

Messrs.  Beattie  the  idea  of  reproducing  Oriental  patterns, 
a  Ghiordes  rug  being  selected  as  the  first  to  be  copied. 

Sheppard  Knapp,  of  Sheppard  Knapp  &  Co.,  believes 
that  Job  Pearson  made  the  first  piece  of  chenille  carpet  in 
this  country.  Mr.  Knapp  advised  Pearson  to  put  a  border 
on  the  carpeting,  and  thus  produce  an  imitation  of  an 
Oriental  rug.  Mr.  Knapp  was  the  first  to  advertise  these 
goods  as  "  Smyrnas,"  and  at  his  suggestion  application 
was  made  for  a  patent  on  them,  but  for  some  reason  it  was 
refused. 

Since  the  starting  of  the  industry  in  this  country,  which 
was  about  twenty  years  ago,  many  important  improve- 
ments have  been  made  in  the  process  of  manufacture.  In 
the  factory  of  to-day  the  dyed  yarn  is  first  taken  to  the 
cop  winding  machine  and  wound  on  cops,  which  then  go 
to  the  weft  weaving  room.  The  pattern  which  is  to  be 
reproduced  in  the  weft  is  drawn  and  colored  upon  the  de- 
sign paper  in  the  usual  manner,  but  is  then  cut  into  strips, 
which  are  called  papers.  Each  strip  is  a  double  paper, 
each  paper  representing  one  shot  in  the  setting  loom. 

The  operative  at  the  weft  weaving  loom  begins  her 
work  by  placing  one  of  these  strips  before  her  as  her 
guide  in  throwing  the  shuttles  containing  the  weft  yarns. 
The  warp  yarn  is  composed  of  four  cotton  threads,  but 
by  the  movement  of  a  cam  in  the  loom  these  are  twisted 
in  the  weaving  operation  so  as  to  make  two  double  threads 
instead  of  four  single  ones.  When  the  pattern  on  the  first 
strip  has  been  reproduced  in  the  weft  the  weaver  takes 
the  strip  which  comes  next  in  order  in  the  design,  and 
continues  in  this  way  until  the  entire  pattern  has  been 
woven.  The  chenille,  which  during  the  weaving  opera- 
tion has  been  wound  on  a  beam,  is  then  taken  to  the  cut- 
ting machine,  in  which  a  number  of  small  circular  blades 


HISTORY  AND  MANUFACTURE.  67 

fixed  on  a  revolving  cylinder  come  in  contact  with  the 
chenille  as  it  passes  over  another  cylinder  and  cut  it  into 
narrow  strips.  As  quickly  as  it  is  cut  the  twisted  threads 
in  each  strip  cause  it  to  twist  itself  into  the  fur-like  shape 
characteristic  of  chenille  fabric.  The  strips  after  passing 
through  the  cutting  machine  are  wound  on  cops,  and  are 
then  ready  for  the  setting  loom,  in  which  the  warp  is  cot- 
ton thread  and  the  chenille  fur  is  the  weft,  with  a  shot  of 
jute  yarn  between  each  strip  as  filling.  From  this  loom 
it  emerges  in  the  form  of  rugs,  the  pattern  on  the  design 
paper  being  exactly  reproduced  in  the  woven  rug.  From 
the  loom  the  rug  goes  to  the  shearing  machine,  where  the 
surface  is  made  even,  and  it  is  then  fringed  and  finished. 
The  fringing  operation  formerly  required  a  great  deal  of 
hand  labor,  but  all  or  nearly  all  of  this  work  is  now  done 
by  machines. 


CHAPTER  XII. 
INGRAIN,  VENETIAN  AND  WOOL  DUTCH  CARPETS. 

NGRAIN  is  a  fabric  composed  of  two  webs  or 
plies  of  cloth. 

In  weaving  Ingrain  each  ply  has  its  par- 
ticular color,  as,  for  instance,  a  two-ply  car- 
pet may  have  one  ply  of  green  yarn  and  the 
other  of  red.  If  the  red  ply  forms  the 
ground  color  of  the  design,  then  the  green  ply  will  be  the 
figure  color,  and  wherever  the  green  yarn  appears  over  the 
red  ply  that  is  ingraining.  Two-tone  carpets  are  used,  as  a 
rule,  for  churches  only.  The  more  general  this  ingraining 
or  mixing  up  of  the  two  plies,  the  more  durable  the  fabric 
will  be.  A  skillful  designer  will  always  mix  his  plies  as 
closely  as  possible  tc  avoid  "pockets."  The  plies  are  of 
equal  texture  and  are  united  at  the  edges  by  the  selvage 
threads. 

In  weaving  Ingrain  the  warp  threads  are  moved  by  the 
Jacquard.  For  a  two-color  effect  the  filling  threads  are 
thrown  by  the  shuttle  from  right  to  left  and  then  about  or 
back  again. 

In  the  shotabout  ply  two  or  more  shuttles  are  used.  When 
both  plies  are  shuttled  with  two  colors  each,  the  weave  is 
called  a  double  shotabout.  In  a  plain  Ingrain  each  ply  has 
but  one  color.  In  a  plain  and  shotabout  weave,  one  ply 
is  plain  and  the  other  is  a  shotabout  ply  composed  of  threads 
of  two  or  more  different  colors  alternating,  as,  for  instance, 
green  and  white,  giving  the  effect  of  three  colors  in  the  car- 
pet. In  double  shotabout  each  ply  is  a  shotabout  one,  giv- 


70  FLOOR  COVERINGS. 

ing  a  design  in  four  colors,  say,  black,  red,  green  and  white. 
Until  the  invention  of  the  mate  thread  weave  two  dark 
threads  could  not  be  brought  up  together  in  a  carpet,  it  be- 
ing necessary  to  bring  a  light  one  up  with  a  dark  thread 
or  vice  versa.  The  mate  thread  device,  by  enabling  the 
weaver  to  bring  up  either  light  or  dark  threads  together, 
makes  four-color  effects  possible. 

In  the  old  style  Kidderminster  Ingrain  the  warp  yarns 
were  three-thread  worsted,  but  in  the  modern  goods  two- 
thread  yarn  is  generally  used,  because  this  makes  a  saving 
in  the  most  expensive  material  used  in  the  carpet,  and, 
moreover,  the  finer  the  warp  yarn  the  more  scope  there  is 
for  shading  in  the  weft  colors. 

Venetian  carpets  are  made  with  a  worsted  or  cotton  warp 
and  a  jute  filling.  The  warp  is  colored  and  makes  the 
figure  effect.  In  the  weaving  a  Jacquard  is  used,  but  it  is 
much  less  complicated  than  the  one  employed  for  Ingrain 
carpets.  Venetians  are  used  only  for  stairs  and  halls. 

Wool  Dutch  carpets  are  not  used  now.  They  have  a  heavy 
warp  and  a  thick  single  filling.  The  warp  is  woven  in  so  as 
to  form  stripes,  making  what  is  called  a  Dutch  plaid  pat- 
tern. The  Jacquard  employed  is  of  a  very  simple  kind, 
having  but  one  card  and  resembling  that  which  is  used  for 
weaving  plain  Ingrain  filling. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

STRAW  MATTING. 

HE  straw  matting  which  comes 
from  China  is  manufactured 
from  a  species  of  reed  or 
grass  having  culms  which 
grow  as  high  as  6  feet. 
When  it  has  acquired  the 
proper  height  the  grass  is 
cut,  spread  out  in  the  open 
air  to  dry,  then  roughly 
sorted,  packed  in  bales  and 
delivered  to  the  matting 
manufacturer,  who  sorts  it 
again  according  to  its  fine- 
ness, uniformity  and  color. 
The  freshest,  greenest  look- 
ing straw  is  taken  for  white  matting,  and  the  rest  is  put 
aside  to  be  dyed.  In  the  familiar  red  and  white  check  mat- 
ting the  red  color  is  given  by  sapanwood.  For  all  other 
colors  aniline  dyes  are  used. 

In  Japan  the  matting  manufacturers  use  a  straw, 
like  the  Chinese,  from  which  they  make  what  is  called  the 
Bungo  weave,  but  a  larger  proportion  of  the  matting  which 
comes  from  China  is  made  of  straw  which  is  smaller  than 
the  Chinese  and  this  makes  what  is  called  the  Bingo  mat- 
ting. This  kind  of  straw  is  easier  to  manipulate  and  can  be 
woven  in  designs  much  more  elaborate  and  handsome  than 
is  possible  with  the  Chinese  reed,  but  it  is  not  so  durable. 


72  FLOOR    COVERINGS. 

In  both  China  and  Japan  the  loom  on  which  the  matting 
is  woven  is  of  the  same  pattern,  consisting  merely  of  an 
upright  bamboo  framework  with  cylindrical  crosspieces 
above  and  below,  over  which  the  warp  runs,  the  woof  being 
woven  in  without  a  shuttle.  The  movement  of  the  warp 
is  governed  by  the  weaving  beam  or  bar,  a  piece  of  wood 
2.  inches  square  and  about  a  foot  longer  than  the  width  of 
the  matting  which  is  to  be  woven.  The  bar  is  pierced  with 
thirty-nine  small  holes,  to  receive  the  warp  threads,  the  front 
row  of  holes  being  about  three-sixteenths  of  an  inch  to  the 
right  or  left  of  those  on  the  opposite  face,  through  which 
the  other  row  of  warp  is  threaded.  The  warp  threads  are 
made  of  hemp,  and  are  oiled  to  make  them  smooth.  When 
the  warp  become  loose  it  is  tightened  by  driving  wedges 
between  the  upright  and  crosspieces  of  the  loom. 

The  weaver  handles  his  bar  by  means  of  a  peg  inserted 
midway  in  it.  With  this  peg  held  at  a  right  angle  to  the 
weave  the  warps  are  in  normal  position.  When  the  peg  is 
turned  up  the  front  row  of  warp  threads  moves  back,  and 
when  the  movement  of  the  peg  is  reversed  the  back  row  of 
threads  moves  forward.  Between  each  upward  and  down- 
ward turn  of  the  bar  the  weaver's  assistant,  who  kneels  at  his 
right  with  bundles  of  straw  for  the  woof  on  the  ground 
before  him,  draws  from  a  bundle  a  straw  of  the  color  called 
for  by  the  pattern,  catches  it  in  a  notch  cut  in  the  end  of  a 
slender,  piece  of  bamboo  about  4  feet  in  length,  and  holding 
the  straw  in  this  way  places  it  horizontally  between  the 
two  rows  of  warp  threads.  The  weaver  seizes  the  end  of 
the  straw,  which  passes  beyond  the  left  hand  selvage  and 
twists  it  around  the  selvage  cord,  while  the  assistant  twists 
the  right  hand  end  in  the  same  way.  Then  the  beam  is 
brought  down  with  sufficient  force,  to  press  the  warp  straws 
closely  together. 


HIS  TOR  Y  A  ND  MAN  UFA  C  T  URE.  73 

When  the  loom  has  woven  a  piece  of  matting  2,  4  or  5 
yards  in  length  the  selvage  is  cut  down  clean  with  a  knife, 
and  the  matting  or  mat  is  taken  off  the  loom,  which  is  then 
provided  with  another  warp.  As  the  straw  is  always  wet 
before  the  weaving,  the  woven  pieces  are  dried  in  the  sun 
or  over  slow  burning  wood  fires.  To  make  .the  ordinary 
roll  of  matting  a  number  of  these  pieces  sufficient  to  meas- 
ure altogether  40  yards  are  joined,  this  being  done  by 
running  the  warp  ends  of  each  two  pieces  in  opposite  di- 
rections under  the  woof,  a  smooth,  flat  bamboo  needle 
being  used  for  this  purpose.  The  roll  is  then  ready  for 
packing. 

Jointless  matting  is  made  on  a  loom  which  differs  but 
slightly  from  that  which  is  used  in  making  the  joined  goods, 
the  only  change  consisting  in  arrangements  for  loosening 
the  warp  and  pulling  it  over  whenever  about  2  yards  of  the 
matting  have  been  woven,  the  finished  part  being  passed 
back  under  the  loom.  As  the  beam  cannot  beat  up  the 
woof  so  closely  with  this  arrangement  the  texture  of  the 
jointless  goods  is  quite  loose. 

To  remedy  this  the  roll  is  made  somewhat  longer  than 
40  yards,  and  is  then  stretched  tightly  over  a  tall  box-like 
structure,  open  at  the  top,  and  containing  in  its  centre  a 
charcoal  fire.  Two  coolies,  one  standing  at  one  selvage  of 
the  roll,  the  other  at  the  opposite  selvage,  then  apply  their 
hands  to  both  sides  of  the  matting,  loosening  and  then 
forcing  down  the  straw  to  the  firmness  desired.  While  this 
raking,  as  it  is  called,  is  going  on  the  heat  from  the  charcoal 
fire  is  removing  the  moisture  from  the  matting. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
COCOA  MATTING. 

OCOA  or  coir  matting  is  made  from  the  fibrous 
rind  or  husk  of  the  cocoanut.     The  cocoa- 
nut  palm  tree,  which  produces  these  nuts, 
is    cultivated    in    Ceylon,    the    Malabar 
coast,  the  Straits  Settlements,  the  islands 
of   the    Eastern   Archipelago,   the   West 
Indies,  Central  America,  Brazil,  and  Zanzibar,  Africa. 

The  husk,  which  contains  the  fibres,  is  removed  from  the 
nut  by  pressing  it  upon  the  point  of  a  sharp  spike  of  iron  or 
hard  wood  fixed  in  the  ground.  The  husks  are  then  placed 
in  soaking  tanks,  which  are  filled  with  fresh  water.  If  the 
trees  are  on  or  near  the  seashore,  the  nuts  are  simply  buried 
in  holes  dug  in  the  sand,  so  that  the  salt  water  may  reach 
and  macerate  them.  The  soaking  renders  the  fibres  more 
pliable  and  facilitates  their  separation  from  the  cellular  tis- 
sue of  the  husk.  This  is  accomplished  by  beating  the  mac- 
erated husks  with  hard  wooden  clubs  or  mallets. 

The  fibre,  or  coir,  as  it  is  called,  is  then  arranged  in  loose 
rovings  or  sheaves,  which  are  twisted  into  yarn  by  being 
rolled  in  a  peculiar  manner  between  the  palms  of  the  hands. 
All  these  operations  are  performed  by  the  natives  in  the 
countries  where  the  cocoanut  palm  tree  grows.  The  separa- 
tion of  the  fibre  from  the  nut  and  the  twisting  of  the  yarn, 
occupy  them  through  the  rainy  season,  when  no  other  work 
can  be  done.  The  cost  of  native  labor  is  so  low  and  the 
yarn  spun  by  machinery  is  so  much  inferior  to  the  hand- 


76  FLOOR   COVERINGS. 

made  product  that  all  attempts  to  introduce  machines  in 
this  work  have  proved*  impracticable. 

The  first  process  to  which  the  yarn  is  subjected  in  the 
matting  factory  is  bleaching,  and,  as  all  the  skeins  are  not  of 
equal  texture  and  do  not  have  the  same  color  after  bleach- 
ing, they  are  sorted  according  to  shade  or  tint  and  texture. 

The  yarn  intended  for  the  warp  is  reeled  upon  bobbins 
about  a  foot  in  length,  and  these  are  placed  on  a  frame  at  the 
back  of  the  matting  loom.  Each  thread  passes  separately 
through  a  reed,  which  keeps  it  in  place,  and  then  between  a 
pair  of  iron  rollers  with  roughened  surfaces,  which  hold  it 
tightly.  The  woven  fabric  also  passes  between  a  similar  pair 
of  rollers,  whose  purpose  is  to  give  the  tension  desired.  The 
shuttle  used  is  quite  large,  and  the  yarn  for  the  filling  is 
wound  on  a  cob  large  enough  to  fit  tightly  in  the  shuttle. 
No  spindle  is  used  and  the  yarn  unwinds  from  the  end. 

The  matting  loom  is  operated  by  power,  and,  unlike  most 
other  kinds  of  power  looms,  it  requires  constant  and  ardu- 
ous labor  to  make  it  weave  properly.  This  is  owing  to  the 
difficulty  in  giving  the  necessary  tension  to  the  weft  threads. 
The  yarn  is  so  coarse  and  harsh  that  every  contrivance  for 
tightening  the  weft  sufficiently  for  a  perfect  selvage  tends  to 
interfere  seriously  with  the  working  of  the  shuttle.  The 
workman  is  therefore  obliged  to  catch  the  thread  behind  the 
shuttle  every  time  it  passes  through  and  draw  it  tight,  an 
operation  which  considerably  retards  the  speed  of  the  loom. 

Ordinary  cocoanut  matting  is  woven  with  a  certain  kind 
of  twill  in  a  three-leaved  harness,  two  extra  threads  running 
in  special  loops,  alternating  up  and  down  for  selvage.  In 
Calcutta-made  matting  this  twill  is  reversed  every  five  or  six 
inches,  so  as  to  give  the  fabric  a  striped  appearance.  But 
all  goods  having  this  appearance  do  not  come  from  Cal- 
cutta, for  the  American  manufacturers  produce  the  same  ef- 


HISTORY  AND  MANUFACTURE.  77 

feet  by  reversing  the  order  in  which  the  warp  threads  are 
drawn  into  the  harness. 

The  looms  on  which  cocoa  mats  are  made  are  like  an  old- 
fashioned  hand  loom  of  the  most  primitive  style;  but  they 
are  very  strong  and  substantial,  as  great  tension  is  needed 
and  heavy  blows  must  be  dealt  with  the  lathe  to  beat  the  fill- 
ing up  tightly.  The  warp  is  wound  upon  the  beam  in  the 
ordinary  manner  and  passes  through  a  plain  two-leaved 
harness. 

In  making  fibre  mats  the  workman  uses  the  loose  cocoa- 
nut  fibre,  having  first  run  it  through  a  picker.  He  springs 
the  harness,  and  twisting  a  bunch  of  the  fibre  into  a  wisp  or 
loose  strand,  passes  the  end  of  it  under  each  alternate  warp 
thread  as  it  is  brought  uppermost  by  the  harness,  cutting  off 
each  time  a  length  sufficient  to  form  the  pile  of  the  mat. 
The  loose  ends  which  are  too  short  to  be  fastened  in  are 
pulled  out.  After  a  tuft  of  fibre  is  thus  placed  under  each 
warp  thread  across  the  loom,  the  harness  is  sprung  about 
and  a  weft  thread  run  through  as  a  binder.  In  the  better 
grades  of  mats  Zanzibar  yarn  is  used  for  the  weft.  In 
cheaper  goods  remnants  or  short  ends  are  employed.  The 
harness  is  then  sprung  again  and  the  process  of  inserting 
fibre  is  repeated.  When  the  mat  is  woven  to  the  size  de- 
sired the  warp  is  set  forward  some  inches,  leaving  a  number 
of  bare  threads.  The  mats  are  finally  cut  apart,  finished  on 
the  edges  with  braid  and  sheared  on  the  surface  by  a  ma- 
chine resembling  a  cloth  shearer. 

Coir  mats  are  made  in  a  similar  manner,  but,  instead  of 
loose  fibre,  the  weaver  has  a  large  ball  of  yarn  from  which 
he  forms  the  tufts.  The  weaving  requires  less  time  than  it 
does  for  a  fibre  mat.  The  weaver,  after  springing  the  har- 
ness, passes  the  end  of  the  yarn  through  from  one  side,  while 
from  the  other,  on  top  of  the  warp,  he  pushes  forward  a  flat 


78  FLOOR  COVERINGS. 

iron  rod,  grooved  on  the  edge,  upon  which  he  winds  the 
yarn,  bringing  up  the  loops  between  successive  warp  threads 
while  pushing  the  rod  along.  When  the  yarn  is  thus  wound 
across  the  warp  a  straight  thread  is  run  through  for  a 
binder,  the  rod  is  turned,  with  the  groove  uppermost,  and 
the  threads  are  cut  by  running  a  knife  along  the  groove. 
The  harness  is  then  changed,  the  filling  well  beaten  up  with 
the  lathe  and  the  operation  of  winding  the  yarn  on  the  rod 
repeated  as  before. 


CHAPTER  XV. 
FLOOR  OIL  CLOTH. 

IN  the  manufacture  of  floor  oil  cloth  the  first  step  is  the 
preparation  of  the  foundation,  which  is  composed  of  jute 
burlap. 

It  is  necessary  to  size  the  foundation,  and  in  making  nar- 
row oil  cloths  the  sizing  is  done  by  drawing  the  burlap 
through  troughs  filled  with  liquid  glue,  rye  flour,  tapioca 
or  varnish,  the  best  among  these  different  sizes  being  a 
matter  of  opinion  among  manufacturers.  The  burlap  is 


GREEN. 


BLACK. 


drawn  through  the  troughs  by  means  of  rollers,  which  press 
the  surplus  sizing  out  of  the  cloth  as  it  passes  between 
them. 

The  sized  surface  is  then  rubbed  thoroughly  with  pieces 
of  pumice  stone,  this  operation  being  performed  either  by 
hand  or  by  a  simple  mechanical  arrangement,  in  which  the 
"rubbers"  are  moved  over  the  surface  by  steam  power. 

When  the  cloth  has  been  rubbed  smooth  and  even,  it  is 


80  FLOOR  COVERINGS. 

then  covered  with  a  mixture  composed  of  ochre,  linseed  oil 
and  benzine.  In  order  to  make  this  coating  even  and  uni- 
form in  thickness  the  cloth  is  passed  under  an  arrange- 
ment of  metal  blades  which  scrape  off  superfluous  paint. 
The  coating,  when  dry,  is  rubbed  smooth  with  pumice- 
stone,  and  this  process  of  coating  and  rubbing  is  performed 
several  times,  the  number  depending  on  the  quality  of  the 
goods  desired. 

The  printing  of  the  pattern  on  the  cloth,  which  is  the 
next  step  in  the  process,  was  formerly  done  by  hand  en- 
tirely, but  most  manufacturers  now  use  machinery  for  this 
purpose.  In  printing  by  machinery  the  cloth  passes  over 
a  flat  table,  and  under  the  printing  blocks,  which  have  a 
rising  and  falling  motion.  In  the  old  manner  of  printing  by 
hand  the  blocks  were  18  inches  square,  and  only  this 
amount  of  surface  was  printed  at  one  time  with  each  block, 
but  in  the  present  method  the  blocks  extend  entirely  across 
the  cloth.  The  printing  blocks  are  made  of  wood,  and  each 
color  used  in  the  pattern  requires  a  separate  block.  The 
pattern  is  carved  on  the  blocks  in  relief,  the  portions  left 
uncut  being  those  which  form  the  design.  The  manner  in 
which  each  separate  block  presents  a  surface  exactly  cor- 
responding to  one  of  the  colors  in  the  pattern  is  shown  in 
the  illustrations  presented  herewith,  which  represent  a  pat- 
tern with  six  colors  and  the  six  blocks  used  for  it. 

The  colors  employed  are  spread  on  the  blocks  by  an  ar- 
rangement of  troughs  and  rollers.  A  roller  revolving  in  a 
trough  filled  with  coloring  material  passes  across  the  face 
of  a  printing  block,  which  then  descends  upon  the  cloth, 
makes  its  particular  impression  and  rises  again,  each  block 
printing  its  own  separate  color  in  this  way  until  the  pat- 
tern is  complete. 

When  the  printing  is  completed  the  cloth  is  taken  to  the 


HISTORY  AND  MANUFACTURE. 


81 


drying  room,  where  artificial  heat  is  employed  to  facilitate 
the  drying.  When  sufficiently  dry  and  hard  the  cloth  is 
placed  flat  upon  a  platform,  varnished,  trimmed  and  rolled 
up  ready  for  the  market. 

The  blocks  used  for  printing  are  made  of  the  best  white 
pine,  thoroughly  seasoned.  They  are  about  if  inch  thick 
and  are  faced  with  hard  wood,  usually  maple,  which  is  glued 
on.  The  face  is  generally  creased  by  sawing  fine  parallel 
lines  in  one  direction  or  both  before  the  carving,  as  this 
facilitates  the  tracing  of  the  design  and  the  cutting  away  of 


YELLOW. 


BLUE. 


the  superfluous  wood.  In  order  to  get  certain  effects  in  the 
printing  some  parts  of  the  design  may  be  cut  or  punched 
in  metal,  these  portions  being  then  fastened  to  the  faces  of 
the  blocks  as  required. 

The  pattern  to  be  used  is  drawn  and  painted  in  full  on 
paper,  every  color  and  part  of  the  design  being  produced 
exactly  as  it  is  ultimately  to  appear.  This  design  is  then 
reproduced  on  the  surfaces  of  the  printing  blocks,  the  num- 
ber of  these  depending,  as  has  been  explained,  upon  the 
number  of  colors  in  the  pattern.  The  part  of  the  design 


82  FLOOR   COVERINGS. 

apportioned  to  each  particular  block  is  transferred  to  it  by 
a  tracing  process,  and  the  figure  is  then  cut  in  relief  as  indi- 
cated by  the  tracing. 

Besides  the  carved  blocks,  manufacturers  use  what  are 
called  pin-blocks.  These  are  made  in  three  pieces,  to 
prevent  warping,  the  pieces  being  securely  cemented  to- 
gether. The  middle  one  is  of  pine  and  the  outer  ones  are 
of  maple,  the  grain  of  these  running  at  right  angles  to  that 
of  the  inner  piece.  The  printing  surface  is  sawed  across 


COMBINED  COLORS. 


RED. 


at  close  intervals  in  two  directions  at  right  angles  to  each 
other,  and  a  surface  thus  produced  composed  of  pins  or 
pegs,  the  narrow  interstices  being  regular  and  uniform. 
In  preparing  the  block  for  its  design  all  the  pins  not  neces- 
sary for  producing  the  figure  desired  are  cut  away. 

The  process  of  manufacturing  sheet  oil  cloth  differs 
somewhat  from  that  which  has  been  described,  but  the 
difference  is  simply  in  the  manipulation  of  the  cloth,  the 
composition  of  the  goods  and  general  principles  of  manu- 
facture being  the  same. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
LINOLEUM. 

TWO  main  ingredients  in  the  manufacture  of 
linoleum  are  cork  and  linseed  oil,  to  which 
are  added  smaller  quantities  of  kauri  gum, 
resin,  and  pigments  of  various  kinds.  In 
the  manufacture  of  bottle  corks  about  one- 
half  of  the  cork  is  wasted,  and  this  waste 
is  the  chief  source  of  the  cork  for  linoleum.  The  cork 
waste,  after  being  freed  from  dust  and  other  admixed  sub- 
stances by  means  of  a  sieve  with  a  rapid  reciprocating 
motion  is  crushed.  This  sounds  very  simple,  but,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  machinery  required  for  the  actual  opera- 
tion has  to  be  of  special  character,  on  account  of  the  elasticity 
of  cork  and  the  almost  incredible  rapidity  with  which  it  blunts 
the  hardest  steel  knife  edge.  The  breaker  reduces  the  cork 
to  pieces  of  about  the  size  of  a  pea,  in  which  state  it  is  passed 
on  to  the  grinding  mill,  which  is  like  an  ordinary  flour  mill, 
but  with  stones  of  lava,  sandstone,  or  some  other  rough  ma- 
terial. Cork  dust  being  excessively  light,  quickly  dis- 
seminates itself  through  the  air  of  the  mill ;  hence  the  utmost 
precautions  have  to  be  taken  to  prevent  the  explosive  mix- 
ture of  air  and  cork  dust  being  set  on  fire.  Even  when  the 
greatest  care  has  been  observed  small  explosions  are  some- 
times caused  by  sparks  from  the  machinery. 

The  next  stage  in  the  manufacture  is  the  preparation  of 
what  is  technically  known  as  "cement,"  the  chief  ingredient 
of  which  is  oxidized  linseed  oil.  As  everyone  knows,  oils 
are  divisible  into  two  classes,  drying  and  non-drying  oils,  the 


84  FLOOR   COVERINGS. 

drying  being  brought  about  in  the  case  of  the  first  named 
by  the  absorption  of  oxygen  from  the  air,  and  the  conse- 
quent transformation  of  the  oil  into  a  solid  resinous  mass. 
For  linoleum  manufacture  the  linseed  oil  used  must  be  of 
good  quality,  and  great  care  must  be  taken  in  its  treatment. 
The  oil  is  first  boiled,  much  as  in  the  manufacture  of  paints 
and  varnishes.  The  process  of  drying  is  facilitated  by  the 
addition  of  a  small  quantity  of  oxide  of  lead.  The  boiled 
oil,  after  being  allowed  to  deposit  any  sediment  in  it  in  a 
settling  tank,  is  pumped  to  the  top  of  a  high  building  and 
allowed  to  flow  thence  over  a  number  of  pieces  of  light  cot- 
ton fabric,  known  as  "scrim,"  which  hang  vertically  from 
iron  bars.  The  air  of  the  building  being  heated  to  a  tem- 
perature of  about  100  degrees  Fahrenheit,  the  layer  of  oil 
which  adheres  to  the  surface  of  the  scrim  becomes  oxidized ; 
that  is,  it  solidifies,  in  the  course  of  twenty-four  hours. 

This  operation  is  repeated  daily  for  six  to  eight  weeks, 
until  a  sufficient  number  of  solidified  layers  of  oil  are  de- 
posited on  the  cloth,  the  mass  of  oxidized  oil'  having  then  a 
thickness  of  half  an  inch,  and  being  termed  "a  skin."  These 
skins  are  then  cut  down  and  ground  between  rollers. 

To  prepare  the  linoleum  "cement"  itself,  the  ground  oil 
is  mixed  with  resin  and  kauri  gum  until  the  whole  mass  is 
homogeneous.  The  cement  and  cork  dust  are  then  mixed 
together  thoroughly,  and  if  the  linoleum  is  to  be  plain  the 
coloring  matter  necessary  is  added  at  this  stage.  The  mix- 
ture is  then  rolled  upon  a  backing  of  jute  burlap  which 
passes  between  two  cylinders  to  insure  evenness  and  uni- 
formity of  thickness  in  the  coating. 

The  printing  of  the  pattern  is  the  next  step  in  the  process, 
and  there  is  no  very  material  difference  between  the  method 
of  printing  linoleum  and  that  adopted  for  floor  oil  cloths. 

The  latest  and  most  important  improvement  in  linoleum 


HISTORY  AND  MANUFACTURE.  85 

manufacture  is  the  production  of  mosaic  or  inlaid  goods,  in 
which  the  colors  do  not  appear  on  the  surface  only,  but  go 
through  to  the  very  back  of  the  cloth. 

Several  patents  have  been  granted  in  this  country  and 
abroad  for  methods  of  obtaining  this  result.  In  one  process 
the  linoleum  cement  having  been  made  to  a  certain  thick- 
ness, is  cut  into  separate  pieces  by  dies,  and  these  pieces, 
shaped  and  colored  to  make  the  pattern  desired,  are  then 
placed  upon  a  burlap  backing.  Pressure  is  then  applied  to 
the  mass  until  the  canvas  and  coating  are  thoroughly  united. 
After  drying  the  backing  is  treated  with  a  preparation  of 
resin  and  other  ingredients  to  make  it  waterproof,  and  the 
goods  are  then  ready  for  the  market. 

In  another  process  the  linoleum  mixture  is  in  the  form  of 
a  powder,  which  is  dropped  upon  the  jute  backing  so  as  to 
represent  the  designs  and  colors  essential  for  the  pattern, 
and  the  powdered  mass  is  then  subjected  to  heavy  pressure 
from  a  heated  plate  until  it  is  completely  fused  and  firmly 
attached  to  the  backing. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
SKIN  RUGS  AND  MATS. 

IN  the  manufacture  of  sheepskin  rugs  and  mats  the  first 
step  is  the  salting  of  the  pelts.  As  they  come  to  the 
factory  from  the  slaughter  house  they  are  piled  up  in  layers, 
each  layer  being  thickly  salted.  The  room  in  which  they 
are  kept  must  be  as  cool  as  possible  to  avoid  heating  or 
sweating,  which  would  quickly  destroy  the  skins. 

The  soaking,  which  is  the  next  process,  is  done  in  soft 
water,  which  in  cold  weather  is  slightly  warmed.  The  skin 
must  be  softened  thoroughly  and  the  soaking  necessary  for 
this  is  done  very  carefully  to  prevent  the  loosening  of  the 
fleece  at  its  roots.  After  soaking  the  skin  twelve  hours  in 
the  first  water,  this  is  replaced  by  fresh  water,  in  which 
the  skin  is  kept  for  twelve  hours  more.  It  is  then  placed 
over  a  beam  or  horse  with  the  flesh  upward,  and  stretched, 
scraped  and  scoured.  The  scraping  is  done  with  a  dull  iron 
tool  similar  to  a  large  drawing  knife,  and  in  the  cleaning 
soap,  soda  and  water  are  used  freely,  but  the  soda  must1 
not  be  employed  so  much  as  to  make  the  skin  brittle.  The 
cleaning  process  is  finished  by  rinsing  the  skin  thoroughly 
in  clear  water,  and  it  is  then  hung  on  a  horse  to  dry,  but 
when  the  skin  is  to  be  dyed  of  certain  colors  it  is  first  soaked 
in  a  strong  lime  bath  to  remove  any  traces  of  grease  which 
may  have  remained  after  the  scouring. 

Dyeing  sheepskins  is  a  difficult  operation,  requiring  great 
care.  The  wool  must  be  dyed  hot,  and  as  the  heated  dye- 
stuff  would  spoil  the  leather  if  it  came  in  contact  with  it, 
the  wool  side  must  be  dipped  in  the  dye  so  that  a  small  space 
is  left  between  the  surface  of  the  bath  and  the  leather.  In 
doing  this  a  small  part  of  the  wool  near  the  skin  is  not  sub- 


88  FLOOR   COVERINGS. 

merged  in  the  bath,  but  the  fleece  is  nevertheless  dyed  to 
the  roots,  for  the  liquid  color  moves  along  or  is  drawn  onto 
the  very  roots  of  the  wool,  and  dyes  the  grain  of  the  skin 
also.  Skins  with  long  fleeces  are  the  best  for  dyeing,  and  for 
this  reason  winter  skins  are  preferred. 

It  is  next  necessary  to  treat  the  flesh  side  of  the  skin  by 
stretching  it  and  closing  up  the  pores.  The  skin  is  stretched 
upon  a  wooden  frame  similar  to  an  old-fashioned  quilting 
frame.  Cords  are  attached  at  intervals  to  the  edges  of  the 
skin,  and  the  other  ends  of  the  cords  are  wound  around  pegs. 
By  turning  these  pegs  with  a  key  the  cords  are  tightened, 
and  the  skin  is  stretched  lengthwise  or  laterally  as  desired. 
The  pores  are  closed  by  the  application  of  a  solution  of  alum 
and  salt  to  the  flesh  side.  This  serves  also  to  tighten  the 
roots  of  the  fleece.  While  the  solution  is  being  applied,  the 
skin  is  scraped  with  a  tool  made  for  this  purpose,  and  the 
pressure  caused  by  the  scraping  stretches  the  skin  so  much 
that  frequent  tightening  of  the  pegs  is  necessary  to  keep 
it  taut.  When  this  process  is  finished  the  skin  is  semi- 
dried  and  the  flesh  side  is  then  scraped,  or  shaved,  with  a 
keen-edged  knife  of  peculiar  shape.  In  the  drying  room, 
where  the  skin  goes  next,  the  back  is  pared  and  rubbed  down 
with  whiting,  which  absorbs  any  traces  of  grease  which  may 
still  remain.  The  skin  is  then  ready  to  be  made  into  a  mat 
or  worked  with  others  into  a  rug. 

Our  American  sheep  furnish  the  raw  material  for  nearly 
all  our  sheepskin  mats  and  rugs,  but  the  Angora  goatskin 
rugs  and  mats  are  made  of  imported  skins. 

Fine  rugs  are  made  from  the  skins  of  tigers,  leopards, 
bears,  foxes,  wolves,  dogs  and  other  animals.  The  prepa- 
ration of  the  pelts  and  heads  for  these  rugs  is  a  trade  in  it- 
self. Tiger,  bear  and  leopard  skins  make  especially  hand- 
some rugs  and  are  correspondingly  costly. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  THE  LOOM. 

In  the  engravings  presented  herewith  will  be  found  a 
clear  and  simple  illustration  of  the  fundamental  principle 
involved  in  the  art  of  weaving. 


FIG.  I. 


The  materials  used  in  this  object  lesson  consist,  as  shown 
in  the  engravings,  of  a  piece  of  cardboard,  two  lead  pencils, 
some  thread  and  a  heavy  book  to  serve  as  a  weight.  The 
lead  pencils  are  made  to  serve  as  the  warp  beams;  the 


90 


FLOOR   COVERINGS. 


heddle  may  be  cut  out  of  the  card  with  a  penknife,  with 
which  also  a  shuttle  may  be  fashioned,  as  shown  in  Fig.  2. 
On  the  shuttle  should  be  wound  the  thread  that  is  to  serve 
as  the  weft  to  be  passed  through  the  threads  of  the 
chain. 

To  rig  up  this  improvised  loom  it  is  only  necessary  to 
place  the  two  pencils  on  the  edge  of  a  table,  held  firmly  in 
place  by  the  weight  of  the  book,  as  shown  in  Fig.  i.  Now 
comes  the  operation  of  warping,  which  is  done  as  follows: 
Fasten  one  end  of  the  thread  that  is  to  form  the  warp  chain 


FIG.  2. 

to  one  of  the  pencils,  pass  the  other  end  through  the  first 
slit  in  the  heddle,  then  around  the  other  pencil  and  through 
the  first  aperture,  then  around  the  first  pencil,  and  so  on 
until  the  last  slit  in  the  heddle  is  reached. 

The  next  step  is  the  weaving.  For  this  purpose  the  hed- 
dle should  be  raised  and  lowered  alternately,  while  at  each 
motion  the  shuttle  carrying  the  weft  is  passed  through  the 
warp  threads,  one-half  of  which  will  be  alternately  lifted 
and  lowered  by  the  raising  and  lowering  of  the  heddle. 
After  each  passage  of  the  shuttle  the  weft  thread  may  be 
pushed  home  to  the  web  with  the  aid  of  a  paper  cutter. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
CARPET  CYCLOPEDIA. 

ART  SQUARE — An  Ingrain  carpet  woven  in  one  piece. 

AUBUSSON — A  French  carpet  made  on  a  tapestry  hand  loom. 
The  warp  is  cotton  and  the  weft  consists  of  woolen  yarns  of 
the  colors  called  for  by  the  design.  The  weft  yarns  are  in- 
serted in  the  warp  by  hand,  the  weaver  using  a  small  bobbin 
or  broach  similar  to  that  which  is  employed  for  Gobelin 
tapestry. 

AXMINSTER — i.  A  hand  made  carpet,  having  a  warp  of  linen  threads, 
with  a  pile  of  woolen  tufts  tied  in  by  hand  in  Oriental  fashion. 

2.  A  carpet  with  a  linen,  cotton  or  jute  warp  and  a  chenille  weft. 

3.  A  machine-made  carpet  similar  to  an  American  Moquette. 
BATTEN,  LAY  OR  COMB. — A  swinging  bar  which  beats  up  or  forces 

closely  together  the  weft  yarns  in  the  operation  of  weaving. 

BEAM — A  round,  horizontal  part  of  a  loom,  on  which  the  warp  or 
the  woven  fabric  is  wound. 

BOBBIN — A  spool  carried  by  the  shuttle  and  on  which  the  weft  or 
rilling  is  wound. 

BRUSSELS — A  carpet  having  a  cotton  or  linen  chain,  a  linen  filling 
and  a  warp  of  colored  worsted  yarn,  which  is  raised  by  the 
Jacquard  machine  into  loops  in  the  weaving  to  form  the  pattern. 

BRUSSELS,  TAPESTRY — See  Tapestry  Carpets. 

BRUSSELS,  STOUTS — A  Brussels  carpet  having  only  208  or  216  ends 
of  worsted  warp  to  each  frame  instead  of  256  ends,  as  in  regu- 
lar five  frame  Brussels.  In  weaving  Stouts,  jute  yarn  is  used 
to  replace  the  worsted  yarn  omitted,  and  also  to  give  body  to 
the  fabric. 

CHAIN — The  warp  threads  of  a  fabric,  the  pattern  chain. 

CLOTH  BEAM — The  bar  on  which  a  fabric  is  wound  as  it  is  woven 
in  the  loom. 

COLOR,  COMPLEMENTARY — One  of  two  colors  which  when  combined 
produce  white  or  nearly  white  light,  as  orange  and  blue. 

COLOR,  PRIMARY — i.  The  principal  colors  into  which  white  light  is 
separated  by  a  prism.  2.  Those  colors  which  when  mixed  (in 
pigments)  produce  any  color,  as  red,  blue,  yellow. 

COLOR,  SECONDARY — Three  colors,  each  of  which  is  formed  by  mix- 


92  FLOOR   COVERINGS. 

ing  two  so-called  primary  colors,  as  green  (blue  and  yellow), 
orange  (red  and  yellow),  and  purple  (red  and  blue). 

COLOR,  TERTIARY — A  color  such  as  olive,  russet  or  citrine,  produced 
by  mixture  of  a  primary  and  a  secondary  color. 

COMB — See  Batten. 

COP — A  conical  roll  of  thread  or  yarn  found  on  the  spindle  of  a  spin- 
ning machine. 

COP  TUBE — The  tube  on  which  the  thread  or  yarn  is  wound. 

DROP  Box — A  box  used  in  a  figure  weaving  loom,  to  hold  a  number 
of  shuttles,  any  one  of  which  may  be  brought  into  operation  as 
desired. 

FILLING,  WEFT,  WOOF — The  threads  or  yarns  thrown  by  the  shuttle 
through  the  warp  from  selvage  to  selvage. 

GRANITE — An  all  cotton  carpet,  an  adaptation  of  the  damask  weave, 
the  pattern  being  formed  by  the  warp  instead  of  the  filling. 

HARNESS — An  apparatus  used  for  lifting  threads  in  a  loom. 

HARNESS  FRAME — An  upright  board  for  guiding  the  cords  of  a  loom 
harness. 

HARNESS  SHAFT — A  device  for  holding  and  guiding  the  heddles  in 
a  loom. 

HECK — A  vertical  grated  frame,  through  the  meshes  of  which  the 
warp  threads  pass. 

HEDDLE  OR  HEALD — A  series  of  vertical  cords  or  wires,  each  of  which 
has  in  the  middle  a  loop  or  eye,  which  receives  a  warp  thread. 
The  heddles  pass  around  and  between  parallel  bars,  forming  part 
of  the  harness,  and  by  rising  and  falling  alternately  cross  the 
warp  threads  and  form  sheds  for  the  passage  of  the  shuttle. 

HEMP  CARPET — A  fabric  made  with  a  jute  warp  and  filling  in  two 
or  more  plies. 

INGRAIN — A  carpet  made  in  two  plies,  the  warp  being  worsted  or 
cotton,  with  a  wool  filling. 

JACQUARD — An  apparatus  used  for  weaving  figure  patterns.  It 
consists  of  a  chain  of  perforated  cards,  which  move  over  a  ro- 
tating prism.  The  perforations  permit  the  passage  of  wires, 
which  determine  by  their  movements  the  raising  of  the  warp 
threads,  and  thus  cause  the  figure  to  be  woven  in  accordance 
with  the  arrangement  of  the  perforations. 

JUTE  INGRAIN — A  carpet  made  like  an  Ingrain,  but  with  a  cotton 
warp  and  jute  filling. 


HISTORY  AND  MANUFACTURE.  93 

KIDDERMINSTER — An  Ingrain  carpet,  so  called  because  first  manu- 
factured largely  at  Kidderminster,  England. 

LAY— See  Batten. 

LOOM — A  machine  in  which  yarn  or  thread  is  woven  into  a  fabric 
by  the  crossing  of  the  warp  or  chain  by  other  threads  called  the 
weft  or  filling. 

MOQUETTE — i.  A  French  pile  carpet  resembling  a  Wilton,  but  made 
on  a  hand  loom.  2.  An  American  pile  carpet  woven  on  a 
power  loom  which  forms  the  pile  by  fastening  tufts  of  woolen 
yarn  into  the  warp. 

ORIENTAL  RUGS  (AND  CARPETS) — Goods  woven  in  Eastern  countries 
and  made  in  one  piece,  usually  with  a  linen  or  hemp  warp  and 
filling,  and  a  pile  consisting  of  tufts  of  colored  wool,  twisted 
around  the  warp  by  the  weaver's  fingers. 

PATTERN  CARD— The  perforated  card  in  a  Jacquard  apparatus,  repre- 
senting part  of  the  pattern. 

PATTERN  CHAIN — A  device  for  operating  the  shuttle  in  figure 
weaving. 

PICK — i.  The  blow  that  drives  a  loom  shuttle.  2.  A  unit  of  speed  or 
measurement  of  work  done  by  a  loom. 

PICKER  STAFF  (OR  STICK) — A  lever  used  to  impart  motion  to  a 
shuttle. 

PRO-BRUSSELS — A  carpet  woven  on  an  Ingrain  loom  but  with  both 
faces  bound  together.  The  warp  threads  are  of  jute,  one-half  of 
them  being  used  for  binding  threads  and  the  other  half  as  a 
stuffer.  The  pattern  is  produced  entirely  by  the  interweaving  of 
the  weft,  which  is  wool. 

REED — This  part  of  a  loom  consists  of  two  horizontal  bars,  con- 
nected by  thin  parallel  strips  between  which  the  warp  threads 
pass.  It  is  used  to  keep  the  threads  separated  from  one  another, 
and  also  to  preserve  the  proper  distance  between  the  selvage 
threads. 

SAVONNERIE — i.  A  French  carpet  woven  in  one  piece  on  a  high  warp 
tapestry  loom,  the  warp  being  of  wool  and  the  weft  of  worsted 
threads,  which  are  fastened  by  a  double  knot  on  two  threads  of 
the  warp.  2.  An  American  carpet  similar  to  the  American  Mo- 
quette  or  Axminster,  but  somewhat  thicker  and  heavier. 

SHADE — A  color  mixed  with  black. 

SHUTTLE — A  boat-shaped  piece  of  wood  which  holds  the  bobbin  from 


94  FLOOR   COVERINGS. 

which  the  weft  thread  or  filling  unwinds  as  the  shuttle  moves  to 
and  fro  between  the  warp  threads. 

SHUTTLE-BOX — i.  A  case  placed  at  the  end  of  the  shuttle-race  to  re- 
ceive the  shuttle  after  it  has  been  thrown  by  the  picker.  2.  One 
of  a  series  of  compartments  containing  shuttles  carrying  different 
colored  threads. 

SHUTTLE-RACE — The  track  on  which  the  shuttle  travels  in  a  loom. 

SMYRNA  CARPET  OR  RUG — A  chenille  Axminster  fabric  woven  with 
two  faces,  the  wool  being  on  both  sides  instead  of  one.  In  the 
finished  carpet  or  rug  the  warp  is  of  cotton  thread  and  the  weft 
of  chenille,  with  a  thread  of  jute  as  filling  between  each  strip  of 
chenille. 

TAPESTRY,  OR  TAPESTRY  BRUSSELS — A  carpet  fabric  in  which  the 
woolen  warp  forming  the  surface  is  dyed  in  the  yarn  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  produce  a  pattern  when  woven.  Tapestry  carpets 
have  a  linen  or  cotton  weft  or  binding  thread  and  a  jute  yarn 
backing. 

TEMPLE — An  attachment  to  a  loom  which  holds  the  last  woven  part 
of  a  fabric  stretched  to  prevent  chafing  of  the  warp  in  weaving. 

TINT — A  color  diluted  with  white. 

VELVET — A  Tapestry  carpet  in  which  the  loops  made  by  the  pattern 
warp  threads  are  cut,  thus  forming  a  velvety  surface.  Velvet 
carpets  have  about  25  per  cent,  more  wool  than  is  used  for 
Tapestry  Brussels. 

VENETIAN — A  carpet  fabric  having  a  worsted  or  cotton  warp  and  a 
jute  filling,  the  warp  being  colored  and  forming  the  figure. 

WARP — The  threads  or  yarn  running  lengthwise  in  a  fabric,  and  be- 
tween which  the  cross  threads  of  weft  or  filling  are  woven. 

WARP  BEAM — The  roller  on  which  the  warp  is  wound. 

WEB — A  textile  fabric,  a  name  used  especially  to  designate  a  fabric 
in  the  piece  or  being  woven  in  the  loom. 

WEFT,  FILLING,  WOOF — See  Filling. 

WEFT  FORK — That  part  of  the  stop  motion  which  causes  the  stoppage 
of  the  loom  when  a  filling  thread  breaks  or  fails. 

WILTON — A  carpet  made  like  Brussels  carpeting,  excepting  that  it 
has  about  50  per  cent,  more  wool,  and  that  the  loops  on  the  face 
are  cut  so  as  to  form  a  velvety  surface. 

WOOF,  WEFT,  FILLING — See  Filling. 

WOOL,  DUTCH — A  carpet  having  a  heavy  warp  and  a  single  thick  fill- 
ing, the  warp  being  woven  in  so  as  to  form  stripes. 


INDEX. 


Afghan  rugs 36,  37,  39,  40 

Agra  carpets 40 

Anatolian  rugs 33 

Art  squares 91 

Aubusson  carpets 91 

Axminster  chenille  carpets 45,  46,  47 

hand-made  carpets 45,  46 

machine-made  carpets 63,  64 

Batten    91 

Beam    91 

Bobbin 91 

Bokhara  rugs 36,  37,  39,  40 

Brussels,  body,  carpets 49,  50,  51,  91 

Brussels,  printed,  carpets 59,  60,  6 1 

Brussels,   stouts,   carpets 91 

Brussels,  tapestry  carpets 53,  54,  55,  56,  57,  91 

Cabul  rugs : 40 

Cabistan  carpets 35 

Candahar  rugs 40 

Carpet  Cyclopedia 91,  92,  93,  94 

Carpet  Industry  in  the  United  States.  .15,  16,  17,  18,  19,  20,  21,  22,  23,  24 

Carpeting  in  antiquity 3,  4,  5,  6,  7 

Carpet  making  in  Great  Britain 9,  10,  n,  12,  13,  14 

Chain  91 

Chinese  matting 71,  72,  73 

Cloth   beam 91 

Cocoa  matting 75,  76,  77,  78 

Color,  complementary 91 

primary  91 

secondary 91 

tertiary 92 

Comb ' 92 

Cop 92 

Cop  tube 92 


96  INDEX. 

PAGE 

Daghestan  rugs 34,  35,  36 

Dimirdjes  rugs 33 

Dj  orzan  rugs 38 

Drop  box 92 

Ferehan  carpets 38 

Filling  92 

Floor  oil  cloth 79,  80,  81 ,  82 

Ghillem  rugs  and  portieres 40 

Ghiordes  rugs  and  carpets 33 

Granite  carpets 92 

Hamedan  rugs 38 

Harness 92 

frame 92 

shaft 92 

Heald 92 

Heck 92 

Heddle 92 

Hemp  carpet 92 

Herati   rugs 38 

Heraz  rugs 38 

Indian  rugs  and  carpets 40 

Ingrain  carpets 69,  70,  92 

Jacquard  apparatus 92 

Japanese  matting .' 71-  72>  73 

Jute  ingrain  carpet 92 

Karabagh   rugs 35 

Kazak  rugs 36 

Khiva  carpets 37 

Khorassan  rugs 39 

Kidderminster  carpets 93 

Kirman  rugs 33,  39 

Koula  rugs 33 

Kurdistan  rugs 39 

Lay 93 

Linoleum 83,  84,  85 

Loom 93 

Loom,  principle  of 89,  90 

Maharajah    carpets 4° 

Marzuliptan   carpets 4° 


INDEX,  97 


Matting,  Chinese 71,  72,  73 

cocoa 75,  76,  77,  78 

Japanese .' 71,  72,  73 

straw 71,  72,  73 

Meles  rugs 33 

Mirzapore  rugs 40 

Moquette  carpets 63,  64,  93 

Mossul  rugs 38 

Namad  carpets 40 

Oil  cloth,  floor 79,  80,  81,  82 

Oriental  rugs  and  carpets,     25,  26,  27,  28,  29,  30,  31,  32,  33,  34,  35,  36, 

37,  38,  39,  40,  93 

Oushak  rugs  and  carpets 33 

Pattern  card 93 

Pattern   chain . 93 

Persian  rugs  and  carpets 37,  38,  39,  40 

Pick   93 

Picker  staff 93 

Principle  of  the  loom 89,  90 

Pro-Brussels  carpet 93 

Punjaub  carpets 40 

Pushmeina   carpets 40 

Reed 93 

Rugs,  Oriental 25,  26,  27,  28,  29,  30,  31,  32,  33,  93 

Smyrna 65,  66,  67,  94 

animal  and  sheepskin 87,  88 

Savelan  rugs 38 

Savonnerie  carpets 41,  42>  43,  94 

Sedjades  rugs  and  wall  hangings 38 

Sennah  rugs 38,  39 

Serebend  rugs 38 

Shade 94 

Sheepskin  rugs 87,  88 

Shiraz   rugs 38 

Shirvan  rugs 38 

Shuttle : 94 

Shuttle-box    94 

Shuttle-race   94 

Smyrna  rugs  and  carpets 65,  66,  67,  94 


98  INDEX. 

PAGE 

Straw  matting 71,  72,  73 

Sumac   33 

Tapestry  or  Tapestry  Brussels  carpets 53,  54,  55,  56,  57,  94 

Tapestry  printed  carpets 59,  60,  61 

Teheran  rugs 38 

Temple 94 

Tint 94 

Turkish  rugs  and  carpets 33,  34 

Velvet  carpets 53,  54,  55.  56,  57,  94 

Venetian  carpets '. 94 

Warp   94 

Warp  beam 94 

Web   94 

Weft,  woof,  filling 94 

Weft  fork : 94 

Woof,   weft,   filling 94 

Wool,   Dutch 94 

Youroke  rugs  33 


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